___________

Following is an excerpt from a report in Pioneer.

… Ramesh also said his Ministry has decided to give authority to the Maoist-affected States, including Odisha, to have full flexibility to clear public infrastructure projects to be built inside forests in the areas up to five hectares.

The State Governments can divert the forestland with full freedom for the projects having social relevance like construction of roads, schools, health sub-centres, bridges, housing for police and other security personnel without referring to the Union Environment and Forests Ministry for its clearance.

He said this decision would be applicable to the identified 60 Maoist-affected districts of the country, of which 19 are in Odisha. “It will be of great benefit to the Maoist-affected States, particularly Odisha, to improve the essential infrastructures like connectivity,” he said. Besides, this would go a long way for creation of infrastructures in tri-junction areas of Andhra Pradesh, Odisha and Chhattisgarah to fight against the Maoists, he said.

This is a good step by Ramesh.

(UNFINISHED POST – work in progress; please suggest names and pointers that I am missing)

In recent years several young Odias have attracted national attention and exposure in dance, music, fashion design and glamor areas, and many of them are graduates from engineering and management schools. Following are some names that come to mind.

Sona Mohapatra: CET Bhubaneswar

Sniti Mishra: IMIS (Institute of Management and Information Science) Bhubaneswar

Pitobash Tripathy: Govt. College of Engineering and Leather Technology, Kolkata

Ankita Mohapatra: Silicon Institute of Technology, Bhubaneswar; MBA from Symbiosis Pune

Harihar Dash: BPUT (GIET Gunupur ?)

Bibhu Mohapatra: http://expressbuzz.com/entertainment/fashion/who-is-bibhu-mohapatra/268002.html

Krishna Beura:

Chandrahas Choudhury: Author of Arzee the Dwarf which was shortlisted for Commonwealth writer’s prize for best first book.

Bhavna Pani: http://www.starswelove.com/scriptsphp/biography.php?artistid=80

But when I secured 83 percent in my SSC exam, and was preparing to take up science, Abha Dharampal, the principal of Utpal Sanghvi School where I studied insisted I take up arts.

Prince Dance Group:

Manas Kumar Sahoo and group: 

Manas Dash: http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2011-04-06/shows/28685296_1_collection-painting-young-designer

Following is an excerpt from a report in Times of India.

The haat has been given a heritage look with red lateritic stones, tiled pathways, bright parasols, manicured verandas and ornamental lights. …

Official sources said the tourism department spent an estimated Rs 1.15 crore for renovation of the Lingaraj Haat and development of a parking area nearby. “We tried to restore and redesign the haat bearing in mind the heritage character of the old structure in its vicinity,” said state tourism secretary Ashok Tripathy. The new market has been developed over an area of over an acre with a sitting capacity for nearly 250 vendors at a time. …

According to historical references and archeological remains, the market existed as far back as the 7th century AD. …

The haat is being posed as a tourist attraction. Two stages have been constructed and the tourism department has plans to organize cultural programmes here. Besides, there will be stalls selling handicraft items and souvenirs to woo visitors. The haat will be operated and managed by the Lingaraj Temple Trust. “We are planning to make it a major tourist attraction so that people who visit Lingaraj temple also drop into the heritage haat. The cleanliness, hygiene and security of the market will be given priority,” said the executive officer of Lingaraj Temple Trust, Abanikanta Patnaik. …

Official sources said there are plans to recreate the Ekamra Kshetra of yore the Temple City was earlier known as Ekamra Kshetra literally meaning the land of mango orchards by taking up several development works here. The improvement and landscaping of nine protected and unprotected monuments in the old town area will begin soon, along with that of the ritual road around Lingaraj Temple. The temples, including Lingaraj, Rajarani, Mukteswar, Parsuramaswar, Rameswar and Laxmaneswar, will be illuminated properly. An interpretation centre; development of Debipadahara; renovation of the road behind Ananta Basudev Temple will also be done soon, sources added.

“Funds of Rs 18.91 crore have been sourced from different schemes including Mega Circuit Project, Puri-Konark-Bhubaneswar circuit, the finance commission and state plan resources for restoration and conservation of other protected and unprotected temples and the amount likely to be granted in the 13th finance commission award in 2011-12,” said Tripathy.

The following is from http://prsindia.org/corruptioncasesindia.php based on data from National Crime records bureau. The data in excel format is available at http://bit.ly/corruptioncasesinindia.

What does the above mean with respect to Odisha:

• Odisha is number three in terms of number of corruption cases. This could mean there is a lot of corruption in Odisha. It could also mean that the government and people are vigilant about corruption in Odisha and hence so many cases are filed. I think it also implies that people and government in Odisha are not afraid of filing corruption cases. There is almost no individual or group or mafia or … who can do corruption in Odisha without risking corruption cases being filed against it. People and the the government are not afraid. The absence of such sacred cows also means that the higher levels are not much corrupt. Otherwise they would not go after the other corruption cases that easily.
• The 33% conviction cases is comparatively low. This could mean that the bar for the filing of the cases is low. It could also mean that the agencies that are supposed to participate in the conviction process are not very efficient or are themselves corrupt. On the other hand Odisha is way ahead of all the other states in terms of the value of the property recovered. That speaks well of the agencies that participate in the conviction and property recovery process.
• Taking all the facts together my overall interpretation is as follows: There is a lot of corruption in Odisha. The people and the government are vigilant and are not afraid of filing corruption cases. There are no sacred cows or dreaded organizations. While the conviction is low at 33%, the high value of the property recovered points to the government being not afraid, being good at recovering property and suggests that the highest levels are not much corrupt.

Following is from http://pib.nic.in/newsite/erelease.aspx?relid=71775.

The Buddhist relics found during an excavation at Lalitgiri in Orissa are proposed to be housed in a museum. The Excavated Buddhist Site, Lalitgiri was notified as Centrally Protected in the year 1937. The site has been extensively excavated by the Archeological Survey of India (ASI) during the year 1985-1992. The remains of a massive Stupa including a relic caskets consisting of four containers made of Khondalite, Steatite, Silver and Gold containing corporal remains have been recovered during the excavation, besides other important structure and archeological remains. At present, the relic caskets are in the safe custody of Superintending Archaeologist, Bhubaneswar Circle, ASI, Bhubaneswar, Orissa. Further, In order to set up a site museum at Lalitgiri the site has been inspected and preparation of detailed drawing (Plan, Elevation, Design) of the proposed museum building have been initiated by the Bhubaneswar Circle, ASI.

The relic –caskets containing Buddhist bone relics would be housed and displayed for the public under adequate security and surveillance

Note that a similar museum exists at Ratnagiri. See http://asi.nic.in/asi_museums_ratnagiri.asp.

In the facebook note http://on.fb.me/puspagiri-links we have collected various links about Lalitgiri, Ratnagiri, Udaygiri and Langudi hills. We are trying to find out  what archaeologists and historians think regarding the  existence of ancient Buddhist Universities in Odisha. The information about Madhavapura Mahavihara (in Udaygiri) at http://asi.nic.in/asi_exca_2005_orissa.asp looks interesting in that regard.

Following are excerpts from a report in netindian.com.

The Planning Commission has made a case before Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to give special attention to certain industry sectors, which will help fulfill key objectives of the 12th Plan (2012-17), including employment, deepening technological capabilities, those with global competitive advantage and aimed at providing strategic security.

… For instance, the sectors which will create large employment include textiles and garments, leather and footwear, gems and jewellery and food processing industries.

There are sectors which deepen technological capabilities. These are machine tools, IT hardware and and electronics.

The sectors listed by the Commission which provide strategic security include telecom equipment, aerospace, shipping and defence equipment.

The sectors which relate to capital equipment for infrastructure growth are heavy electrical equipment, heavy transport and earth-moving equipment.

The sectors with global competitive advantage include automotive, pharmaceuticals and medical equipment.

… The presentation says land and infrastructure constraints are a major problem. The States should develop "Special Industrial Zones" with good connectivity and infrastructure.

It argues that clusters need to be supported to enhance productivity of MSMEs.

The industry sectors mentioned above seem to be among the ones that will generate large job opportunities. The Odisha government should be proactive in going after players in these sectors and creating clusters on some of these sectors. It needs to broaden the industry sector in Odisha beyond mining and mineral processing.

The following details is from this webpage (pdf).

INLAND WATERWAYS AUTHORITY OF INDIA

National Waterway-4 & 5 Projects – Expression of Interest for short listing of firms for selection of Project Management Consultant (PMC) to take up development works in Public-Private-Participation (PPP) mode

Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) invites Expression of Interest (EOI) from experienced consultants having proven caliber, capacity and experience in the realm of Projects related to dredging, jetty/ terminal with allied infrastructure facilities, modification of bridges & navigational locks/ aqueducts and other cross drainage works, aids to navigation and other infrastructure, their operation and maintenance etc for selected stretches of National Waterways -4 & 5 (NW-4 & 5) Projects under PPP mode.

2. Projects: Government of India has declared Kakinada-Puducherry stretch of canals along with River Godavari and Krishna as NW-4 and East Coast Canal along with River Brahmani and Mahanadi detla rivers as NW-5 w.e.f 25th November, 2008. The responsibility of development, regulation and management of these waterways now rests with IWAI.

2.1 The stretch-wise break up of the NW-4 is given below:-

River Godavari (Bhadrachalam to Rajahmundry)- 157 km

River Krishna (Wazirabad to Vijayawada) – 171 km

Kakinada Canal ( Kakinada to Rajahmundry) – 50 km

Eluru Canal (Rajahmundry to Vijayawada) – 139 km

Commamur Canal ( Vijayawada to Pedaganjam) – 113 km

North Buckingham Canal (Pedaganjm to Chennai) – 315 km

South Buckingham Canal (Chennai to Merkanam) – 110 km

Kaluvelly Tank (Markanam to Puducherry) – 22 km

Total – 1077 km

Of this, 888 km length of waterway falls in Andhra Pradesh, 187 km in Tamil Nadu and 2 km in Union Territory of Puducherry.

In 50 km stretch of Buckingham Canal in Chennai area (Ennore to Muthukadu) there is no proposal for development of waterway due to the stretch being heavily encroached by MRTS and being urban area. Thus the effective length of waterway development is only 1027 km.

2.2 The stretch-wise break up of NW-5 is given below:

Rivers Brahmani-Kharsua- Dhamra (Talcher- Dhamra) – 265 km

Matai river (Charbatia- Dhamra) – 39 km

Mahanadi delta rivers (Mangalgadi- Paradeep) – 67 km

East Coast Canal (Geonkhali- Charbatia) – 217 km

Total – 588km

Of this 91 km of waterway is in West Bengal and the rest is in Orissa.

2.3. Considering limitation in availability of funds during 11th Plan it has been decided to explore the possibility of development of more viable stretch of the waterways under PPP mode with Viability Gap Funding (VGF) by the Govt of India, if so required. Further, based on the interaction with possible stake holders in development of these waterways it has been decided by the Ministry of Shipping, Govt of India to explore the possibility to develop the following stretches of waterways under Public-Private- Partnership (PPP) route, at the first instance.

Project-1 (NW-4- Godavari river, Kakinda canal and Godavari Eluru canal)

River Godavari (Bhadrachalam- Rajahmundry) – 157 km

Kakinada Canal (Kakinada-Rajahmundry) – 50 km

Godavari Eluru Canal (Rajahmundry- Eluru) – 88 km

Total – 295 km

Project- 2 (NW-5- Brhamani-Kharsua-Dhamra- Matai river system and Mahanadi delta rivers)

River Brahmani- Kharsua- Dhamra river (Talcher- Dhamra)- 265km

Matai river (Charbatia- Dhamra) – 39 km

Mahanadi delta rivers (Mangalgadi- Paradeep) – 67 km

Total – 371km

3. Project Components: The various components of these Projects are:

Project-1

a) Development of the navigable channel (of the following dimension) along with land acquisition for widening the narrow canals and provision of aids to navigation:

i) River Godavari

Bottom width – 32m

Depth – 1.8 m

Side slope – 1:5

This waterway stretch will facilitate movement of 350 tonnes vessel of 45 m length x 9 m breadth x 1.5 m loaded draft.

ii) Kakinada Canal & Godavari Eluru Canal

Bottom width – 14m

Depth – 1.6 m

Side slope – 1:3

This waterway stretch will facilitate movement of 100 tonnes vessel of 32 m length x 5 m breadth x 1.2 m loaded draft.

b) Construction of Inland Water Transport(IWT) Terminals and related infrastructure facilities (including land acquisition) at 3 locations namely Kakinada, Rajahmundry and Eluru

Project-2

a) Development of the navigable channel (of the following dimension) along with land acquisition for widening the narrow stretches and provision of aids to navigation: Brahmani-Kharsua-Dhamra river system, Matai river and Mahanadi delta rivers

Bottom width – 45 m

Depth – 2m

Side slope – 1:5

This waterway stretch will facilitate movement of 500 tonnes vessel of 50 m length x 11 m breadth x 1.8 m loaded draft. b) Construction of Inland Water Transport(IWT) Terminals and related infrastructure facilities (including land acquisition) at 4 locations namely Talcher, Jenapur, Dhamra & Paradeep (port facilities).

4. Quantum of works & Cost: DPRs have been prepared by the consultant namely M/s WAPCOS (I) Ltd, New Delhi for both the waterways. The quantum of works estimated in the DPR is as under:

Project-1:

a) Estimated Quantity:

Item – Quantity

i) Land Acquisition- 517 Ha

ii) Dredging- 19.12 lakh cu.m

iii) Bank Protection- 0.50 lakh cum

iv) Modification of structures- 496 pipe sluices+ 7 locks + 2 bridges

v) Navigational Aids- 125 FRP Buoys + 125 countryboats + 22 shore beacons + 273 lighted marks

vi) Buoy Laying Vessel- One

b) Estimated Cost: (in Crores)

i) Land acquisition- 118

ii) Dredging- 39

iii) Removal of pipe sluices- 6

iv) Modification of Locks- 8

v) Modification of Bridges- 12

vi) Navigational aids- 10

vii) Protection measures- 3

viii) Terminals – 48

ix) Facilities to local people for ferry Service etc.- 7

Total – 251

Project 2

a) Estimated Works:

Item – Quantity

i) Land acquisition- 23 Ha

ii) Dredging- 10 Million cu.m

iii) Barrages – 5

iv) Bank Protection- 0.76 Million cum

v) Navigational Locks- 5 (with barrages) + 2

vi) Navigational Aids- 190 Buoys + 55 beacons

vii) Buoy Laying vessel – One

b) Estimated Cost (in cr.)

i) Land acquisition- 2

ii) Dredging- 185

iii) Barrages with locks – 1598

iv) Raising banks- 245

v) Protection measures- 39

vi) Fenders – 1

vii) Terminals – 72

viii) Navigational Aids- 11

ix) Navigational Locks- 45

x) Bridges- 14

xi) For EMP implementation- 6

xii) For local public amenities- 12

Total – 2230 at 2010 prices.

The duration of completion of the project shall be Five Years, each. Thereafter, the selected concessionaire/ contractor has to maintain the project for a further period of 10 years.

Executive summary of the DPRs can be downloaded from our website www.iwai.nic.in. Other volumes of the DPRs can also be obtained from IWAI by the prospective bidders on payment basis.

5. Scope of assignment for the consultant: The selected consultant has to act as the representative of IWAI in monitoring the execution of project under PPP route. The consultant inter-alia has to prepare the PPP documents for selection of concessionaire/ contractors, check the adequacy of design of each component of works, do bid process management on behalf of IWAI, monitor and ensure quality of the work done by the contractors till the waterways stretches of Project -1 & 2 become fully functional/ operational. The waterways have to be developed for for providing 24 hour navigation for at least 330 days in a year with necessary infrastructure facilities

My thoughts: The National Waterway 5 would be a huge benefit to Odisha. Basically it will run from Talcher – Kalinganagar area (Jenapur)  – to Mangalgadi (a point in between Paradeep and Dhamara) and would connect Paradip to Dhamara to a point near Kolkata. The National waterway 1 runs from Kolkata to Alalhabad (Prayag) via Patna and Varanasi. I am not fully sure if the connection between NW 5 and NW 1 is seamless. Some maps suggest that while others suggest the opposite. But regardless, if Odisha takes proper advantage of this, this would be huge. Following are some possibilities. 

• Rail and highways could be planned along the bank of the waterway. While the central govt. is acquiring land for the waterway, the state should acquire land for rail and highways along the bank. This will form a big part of the coastal highway and railway that Odisha has been thinking about for a long time.
• The waterway would have tremendous tourism potential, both short tours as well long ones which can take people all the way to Prayag (Allahabad) and Varanasi and people can even take the sea route from Paradeep and go up to Puri (once some ports near Puri are developed.)
• Appropriate industries can be targeted all along the waterway. Districts such as Kendrapada, which do not have any industries and want to have them, can take advantage of the connectivity provided by this, and entice appropriate industries.
• This waterway will be a very long stretch close to the coast, all the way from Paradeep to near Kolkata.The area along the water way in both sides, as well as the area between the waterway and the Bay of Bengal and the beautiful beaches and the tourism spots (like Bhitarakanika) could be made to a special tourism zone with all kinds of tourism related projects.

The following is extracted from http://dailypioneer.com/333439/State-posts-record-revenue-collection-of-Rs-15931-cr.html.

• Total revenue collection:  In 2010-11 amounted to Rs 15,931 crore against Rs 12,194 crore in 2009-10, a growth of 31 per cent.
• Tax revenue collection was fixed at Rs 11,000 crore in 2010-11, the achievement was Rs 11,206.44 crore recording a growth of 25 per cent.
• Non-tax revenue collection, the growth rate was 47.83 per cent with an amount of Rs 4,748.46 crore against a target of Rs 3,500 crore.
• The target of revenue collection for 2011-12 was fixed at Rs 19,000 crore with Rs 13,800 crore as tax and Rs 5,200 crore as non-tax revenue.
• The Governmental dues under professional tax, land revenue, stamps and registration, excise, sales tax, vehicle tax, entry tax and electricity duties have been included under the tax revenue category while the dues under mining royalty, forest and wildlife, major, medium and minor irrigation, water supply& sanitation, interest, dividend and other departmental receipts have been included under the non-tax revenue category.

(Thanks to Jagmohan Swain for the pointer.)

Following are excerpts from an April 2011 ASSOCHAM PLACEMENT PATTERN report titled "Tier II and Tier III cities Emerging as the New Job Creation Basket in 2011-2012" by Ravish Jaggi.

Out of the total 56 cities that were tracked by the Assocham Placement Pattern (APP), Tier II and Tier III cities have cornered 38.8 per cent (total 17 cities Tier II cities) and 23 per cent (total 33 Tier III cities) share of the job space respectively in the financial year 2010-11. Whereas Tier I cities, mainly Delhi/NCR, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Hyderabad and Bangalore have emerged as the fastest job generating cities in India during the past couple of years. During the FY 2011, estimated 2,49,779 number of jobs were created by fuelling a growth of 38.2 per cent over the corresponding period of last year.

In 2010-11 about 2,53,702 jobs were created in Tier II cities, which recorded a growth of 38.8 per cent over the corresponding period of last fiscal. Majorly 1,89,756 employment ware generated in Pune, Bhubaneshwar, Chandigarh, Lucknow and Surat in the last one year.

During 2010-2011, Tier III cities showed a growth of 23 per cent on account of 1,50,391 job creations. Allahabad, Udaipur, Agra, Ajmer, Kota and Meerut are the major cities among the tier III cities which showed a high growth in job placements.

Tier I cities:

Among the Tier I cities Delhi-NCR and Mumbai recorded highest share in providing job opportunities with 39 per cent and 13.8 per cent share in total job creation respectively. As compared to the April-March 2009-10, Delhi/ NCR registered growth of 15.3 per cent in job creation whereas Mumbai registered 11.1 per cent growth in job creation during April-March 2010-11.

Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad and Kolkata have 9.7 per cent, 5.6 per cent, 5.4 per cent and 4 per cent share in total job creations in Tier I cities. Hyderabad and Kolkata registered growth of 10 per cent and 7.3 per cent during FY 11 over FY 10. Bangalore and Chennai registered growth of 5.6 per cent and 4.1 per cent share in total job creation respectively, during FY 11.

Tier II cities

As per the analysis of the study, 17 major Tier II cities recorded highest growth of 38.8 per cent share in total employment generation. Among the Tier II cities during FY 11, Bhubaneshwar and Pune recorded 42.2 per cent and 19.7 per cent growth in job creation as compared to same period of last year.

Among the other major tier II cities Chandigarh, Lucknow and Surat recorded growth of 12.2 per cent, 10.8 per cent and 8.8 per cent share in total job creation during the analyzed period.

Other tier II cities which showed growth in employment generation during April to March 2010-11 over the previous year were Jaipur (6.68 per cent), Vishakhapatnam (5.5 per cent), Indore (4.33 per cent), Nagpur (4 per cent), Cochin (3.35 per cent), Ludhiana (3.28 per cent), Bhopal (2.21 per cent), Amritsar (2.13 per cent) and Gwalior (2 per cent).

Tier III cities

The analysis of the tier III cities shows that 18 cities out of 33 cities registered a heavy growth in job creation during FY 11 as compared to the same period of the last year. The 33 major tier III cities accounted for 23 per cent share in total employment generation during the period. Among the tier III cities, Allahabad, Udaipur, Agra, Ajmer and Kota are top leading cities which recorded major growth of 69.6 per cent, 62.5 per cent 60.9 per cent, 49.3 per cent and 45.6 per cent during the period respectively. As compared to the same period of last year, Meerut and Kanpur registered 38.5 per cent and 26.8 per cent growth.

Whereas majorly Tier III cities, which registered decline in job creation during April-March 2010-11 as compared to the same period of 2009-10 were Shillong (64.2 per cent), Dhanbad (34.6 per cent), Hoshiarpur (27.8 per cent), Ambala (24.2 per cent), Vijayawada (18.7 per cent), Jalandhar (13 per cent) and Raipur (12.8 per cent).

For some time now people in Rourkela have been unhappy with Indian Railways. The situation was exacerbated since Utkal Express was temporarily diverted to go via Angul and Jharsuguda and skip Rourkela. Since then people in Rourkela have been struggling with their only connection to New Delhi broken.

Finally with the threat of a huge demonstration looming the IR seems to have taken notice and is talking to the CM. Following is from Dharitri.

Following is from Sambada.

I hope the Rourkela people do not cool down with this small gesture. They need to continue to push (but in legal ways) for their other demands, such as making Rourkela Station a world station, time bound completion of the Talcher-Bimlagarh line in 3-4 years, creating a Rourkela division and making the above extensions permanent.

I think the demand to take Rourkela out of SER has woken up the SER people. Until all the demands of Rourkelites are fulfilled SER needs to be put on its toes (but in legal ways). That seems to be the only way to wake SER from its slumber and get it to do the right thing for Rourkela.

Following is an excerpt from a report in Business Standard.

With land constraints impeding the upgradation of the existing railway station in Bhubaneswar into a world class station, East Coast Railway (ECoR) is seriously considering the possibility of developing a greenfield station at Barang on the outskirts of the city.

… According to minutes of the meeting provided by minister for commerce & transport minister Sanjeev Sahoo in the state assembly, Guru C Ray, commissioner (rail coordination) and special secretary (commerce & transport) had advised the Chief General Engineer of ECoR to prepare a power point presentation for development of both the Bhubaneswar and Barang stations.

ECoR was also advised to prepare detailed agenda notes for discussion so that a meeting can be arranged at the Chief Secretary level for taking a decision in the matter.

The Chief General Engineer of ECoR stated that the Railways would start the project on availability of government land measuring an area of 78.90 acres and private land of 15.08 acres for the development of the existing Bhubaneswar railway station.

However, the special secretary observed that the vicinity of the existing Bhubaneswar railway station is thickly populated and heavily built up where the cost of land is very high.

It may be noted that 161.96 acres of land was identified around the existing station which includes 67.97 acres belonging to the Railways, 78.90 acres belonging to the state’s general administration department and 15.08 acres of private land.

The development of a greenfield station at Barang was also discussed at the meeting. The representative of Bhubaneswar Development Authority (BDA), present at the meeting, stated that the required land has been identified through survey. The zonal railway was advised to initiate the process for land acquisition at the earliest.

Earlier, a delegation of Chinese Railways had suggested to upgrade the existing city railway station into international standards.

…The cost of developing the world class station in the city was estimated at around Rs 4,000 crore.

The station was to be built on the public private partnership (PPP) mode taking into account the growth in passenger traffic for the next 30 years and also plan for peripheral commercial activity accordingly.

It may be noted that the proposed world class station in the city has made negligible progress at the ground level for close to two years even though the state chief minster and the railway Board had agreed on working out a joint mechanism to expedite this project.

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

A New Delhi based private aviation service company, Global Avianautics Limited (GAL) introduced non-scheduled air transport operation from Rangeilunda airstrip here to Bhubaneswar pressing into service a six seater (two pilots and four passengers) twin engine aircraft. Ganjam district collector V K Pandian launched the service. Director and Chief Executive Officer of the company O P Suri was present on the occasion.GAL is now operating the Government Aviation Training Institute (GAIT), Bhubaneswar. … The operation from Rangeilunda to Bhubneswar would be held on the basis of availability of passengers. Since GAL has acquired licence from Director General Civil Aviation (DGCA) for non-scheduled air transport operation, the company can operate to any place in the state within a radius of 600 km where airstrip facilities are available, Chief Manager of the GAIT, P. Chakravarti said.  … The non-scheduled air transport service from Rangeilunda would pave way for a full-fledge airport in future, said local MLA (Gopalpur) Pradeep Kumar Panigrahi.Meanwhile, Road and Building, Division-II, Berhampur has prepared an estimated Rs 27.29-crore plan for development of Rangeilunda airstrip.

Following is from http://www.everestind.com/news-detail.asp?descid=298&CatID=711.

Everest Industries said it would set up a Greenfield project in Orissa with an investment of INR 50 crore, which will help it to achieve a total turnover of INR 1,300 crore in the next two years.

Spread over 20 acres of land, the new plant, which will be the company’s sixth facility, would have a total capacity of 180,000 tonne of fiber cement and steel fabrication.

Mr Manish Garg president told reporters that “The new plant will involve an investment of INR 50 crore and it will come up at Balasore in Orissa and will be commissioned in next 15 to 16 months time.’

Everest Industries is now eyeing pre-engineered buildings segments in a big way in the field of automobile and warehousing sectors. He said that “We are aiming to generate a business of INR 200 crore from pre engineered buildings segment after focusing on warehousing and industrial segment.’

The company, which clocked sales of INR 650 crore in last fiscal, is aiming to grow to INR 1,300 crore by 2012—13 after the new plant starts at Orissa.
Mr Garg said that “By the end of next fiscal, our sales will reach INR 1,000 crore and thereafter it will move to INR 1300 crore.”

Following is from the Provisional Census Book 2011. The 40 MB file of that is here.

Following is from the Provisional Census Book 2011. The 40 MB file of that is here.

One interesting thing to note is that the location of the new Central University of Odisha in Koraput is right in the center of the 4 least literate districts of Odisha.

Following is from the Provisional Census Book 2011. The 40 MB file of that is here.

Following is an excerpt from a report in Telegraph.

A new road project in Bhubaneswar is expected to relieve traffic congestion to a huge extent on National Highway (NH) – 5.

The upcoming road will link the capital city with the township of Jatni. At present, people travelling from Bhubaneswar to Jatni have to take the NH-5.

Construction on the 14.2km Sundarpada-Harirajpur road is going on at full speed. Work on the project, estimated to cost around Rs 7.53 crore, is expected to be complete by the end of this month. The road was a long-standing demand of the people as the Sundarpada-Jatni stretch has seen rapid growth in the past few months with a number of housing colonies coming up in the area.

While more than 30 apartments have been build near Sundarpada, two engineering colleges and four management colleges also come up in the area.

The project, which started on January 31, 2010, was supposed to be completed by January 30 this year. However, due to problems, including law and order issues, created by villagers in the locality, the work got delayed.

This road already shows up in Google map. In 3-4 years once IIT and NISER campuses are built and become functional near Jatani, this road will become a very important artery of the Bhubaneswar area.

Following is from Dharitri.

The routes that are mentioned above are:

1. Khandagiri, Vanivihar, Rasulgarh, Phulnakhara, Link Road, Badambadi, Khan Nagar Kali Mandira Chhack, High Court, Gundicha Mandira, CDA.
2. Biju Patnaik Park, Chahata, Ram Mandir, Deer Park, Biju Patnaik Chhack, Kanika Chhack, Chandi Mandira, Barabati Stadium, Howrah Motor Chhack, Mata Matha, SCB Medical, Jobra barrage, College Chhack, OMP Chhack, Link Road, Phulnakhara, Rasulgarh, Vaniviahr, Khandagiri.
3. SCB Medical, Jobra Barrage, Jagatpur, OMP Chhack, Link Road, Gopalpur, Phulnakhara, Rasulgarh, Vanivihar, Master Canteen, Rajmahal chhack, Forest Chhack, Ganganagar, Capital Hospital, AG Chhack, Rajbhavan, Siripur, Fire Station.
4. CRRI to Lingaraj temple.

Following is a page from the Lok Sabha tarnscript of 4th March 2011.

In the part marked by red above, the Railway minister Ms. Mamta Banerjee says:

We are ready to make (the wagon factory) in the land that the government gives us; but if we get land in Kalahandi then we are ready to do one more. But it must be Kalahandi because that is an under-developed area.

So the government is shooting itself on the foot by not taking immediate steps to offer a site in Kalahandi and asking for a second wagon factory.

Some small stirs have started happening on this issue in Kalahandi.

1. http://www.tathya.in/news/story.asp?sno=5133 .
2. http://dailypioneer.com/329493/Wagon-unit-Cong-launches-stir-across-Kalahandi.html .
3. http://ibnlive.in.com/generalnewsfeed/news/kalahandi-intensifies-agitation-demanding-rail-wagon-factory/638108.html .
4. http://telegraphindia.com/1110406/jsp/orissa/story_13814102.jsp .

If the issue is not taken care of immediately then this could form the core of a rallying cry from Congress.

On this issue the government is in the wrong and they will have to  bow down to do the right thing. The more they delay the more they will lose politically.

(Thanks to http://www.rourkelacity.com/rdf/showthread.php?p=1291#post1290 for the pointer.)

The following are screens shots from http://www.forumprojects.in/forum_retail_upcoming/retail_upcoming.html.