___________

Following is an excerpt from a report in Business Standard.

The Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation of Orissa (Idco) has handed over 972 acres of land to the Orissa Tourism Development Corporation (OTDC) for the Rs 3,500-crore Shamuka tourism project.

This was the land acquisition for the big-ticket project, to be set up over 3,000 acres near Sipasarubali, about 10 km south of Puri district.

… Till now, 11 professional consultancies have applied for the job. After the study report is prepared, the mode of implementation of the project will be decided. The options to implement the project are either through PPP (public-private participation) or joint venture, or forming a special purpose vehicle, sources said.

… The model plan for the project is ready. It has been prepared by the Centre for Environmental Planning and Technology.

The state government had lined up an investment of Rs 120 crore for developing external infrastructure facilities like water supply, electricity and roads for the project.

Following are excerpts from a report in Orissadiary.com.

… the Government of Orissa planned to renovate and conserve eight heritage properties currently in different stages of ruin, along the coast. This special initiative is a part of the Integrated Coastal Zone Management Project, which is being implemented in Orissa along with Gujrat and West Bengal with support from the World Bank. 

… A special consultancy with funding support from with help from “Italian Trust Fund for Culture and Sustainable Development”, was undertaken to identify opportunities to promote local economic development connected to conservation of the built heritage and to promote linkages with conservation of traditional stone craft and enhancement of the State Museum at Bhubaneswar by LASA – INTACH consortium being facilitated by The World Bank.

… The eight significant heritage sites earmarked for restoration and tourism promotion are Bhaba Kundaleswar Temple of Manikpatna and Baliharchandi Temple in Puri district, Harihardeva Temple of Nairi in Khurda district, Potagada Fort, British Cemetry of Ganjam and Bateswar Temple of Kantiagada in Ganjam district, Jagannath Temple of Pentha and Jamboo Colonial Building in Kedrapara district.

… The preservation and restoration work would be implemented in next five years and Rs.7.41cr will be spent on this component as per the ICZMP plan. Preservation of cultural heritage and monuments along coastal stretch will be undertaken through the involvement of experts like LASA-INTACH. The work will undertake the structural conservation, chemical conservation, environmental up-gradation and illumination of the monuments. Primarily, the aesthetic and grand classic look of the monuments and the cultural sites will be maintained. Any contemporary work and intervention will be avoided to preserve the historical and physical integrity of the cultural property. The monuments are selected on the basis of their architectural, sculptural, historical and religious importance among the 160km coastal zone of the ICZMP pilot project area. …

BHABA KUNDELASHWAR TEMPLE at Manikpatna, Puri

The Shaivite temple is situated in Manikpatna village close to the new sea mouth of the Chilika Lake. The temple is a State protected monument and covered under Orissa Monuments Preservation Act, 1956. The temple is a part of a larger piligrimage route linked with the Jagannath temple at Puri. The temple marks the site of the blessing to the Gajpati Purushottamadeva on his famous Kanchi-Kaberi expedition. The legendary Manika, a milkmaid from the village, believed to offer curds to Lord Jagannatha and Balabhadra at the temple sites. The folk-lore suggests Lords are part of the royal army to bless the Gajpati.  

HARIHARADEVA  TEMPLE at Sanannairi, Khorda

This twin temple of Shiva and Vishnu is a State protected monument and covered under Orissa Monuments Preservation Act 1956. As the legend goes during the campaign of Kalapahar, the invader, when the Jagannatha temple at Puri was desecrated, the images are believed to have been brought here and hidden on an island, which is about 10minute boat ride away. They were also kept in the Harihar temple for some time.

POTAGADA FORT AND CEMETRY at Potagada, Ganjam

The construction of the unique star shaped fort was commenced in 1768 by Cotsword. The adjoining Cemetery contains interesting monuments in form of tomb stones. The French were the earlier settlers in this place who were later driven away by the British. The local folklore is that the site was under a curse and therefore an epidemic broke. The fort was surrounded by a moat.

The cemetery is one of the earliest one of British Administrators and comprise tombstones with spire like monuments in masonry.

HARCHANDI TEMPLE AT BALIHARICHANDI, Puri

The Shakti temple, 800meter away from the sea coast is under the State Preservation Act of 1956. The Bakiharichandi temple is 27km from Puri and linked through ritual and patronage, to the Jagannatha Temple complex at Puri. There are multiple stories about inception of this temple. The Goddess is believed to have killed Kalapahar at the temple spot. The temple also marks the spot where Indra’s Vajra, Shiva’s Trishul and his anger, in the form of the fire (Agni), as well as the wind and the sea come together. 

OLD BUILDING at Jamboo, Kendrapara

The structure is a nineteenth century building that had been used for administrative purposes and cyclone shelter by the British.

STATE MUSEUM, Bhubaneswar

LASA –INTACH consortium; have developed the master plan of the State Museum with the inputs from the experts including the Italian experts. The inputs from Italy would certainly help to make our State museum world class.  

Following is from a report in Economic Times by Nageshwar Patnaik.

The Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM) on Wednesday proposed setting up of 16 new clusters on public-private partnership [PPP] in Orissa each accommodating about 1000 units and providing direct and indirect employment close to 4 lakh people.

Releasing the ASSOCHAM study on "Cluster Development for Inclusive Growth in Orissa" National Secretary General, D. S. Rawat said, "The total funds required for basic and essential infrastructure to these clusters will be about Rs. 480 crores. Once functional, it will contribute additional 10% revenues per annum to the exchequer, help in inclusive growth and simultaneously lead to upgradation of existing clusters.

…  In the state, there are only 26 clusters in the state recognized by the Central government as against 6500 clusters in the country out of which 450 are assisted by the government. The 16 new clusters suggested by ASSOCHAM are: Palasa (Cashew), Buditi (Brass & Bell Metal), Baripada (Sabai Grass), Dhenkanal (Powerloom), Puri (Rice Mills), Bhadrak (Rice Mill Cluster), Dhamara (Ice Plant), Basudevpur (Ice Plant), Chandbali (Chuda Cluster), Tihdi (Chuda Cluster), Basudevpur (Chuda Cluster), Bhandaripokhari (Honey), Dhamara (Honey), Betaligaon (Wood Carving), Olaga (Wood Carving) and Dhusuri (Wood Carving).

The MSME sector contributes around 40% to GDP with an estimated value of goods and services around Rs. 20 lakh crore in 2009-10. The sector is estimated to employ about 5.9 crore people in over 2.6 crore units in the country and has consistently registered a higher growth rate than the rest of the industrial sector. There are over 6000 products ranging from traditional to high-tech items, which are being manufactured by the MSMEs in India.

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

The State Government on Tuesday announced creation of 669 new doctor and para-medical staff posts along with an addition of 869 beds in its three medical college and hospitals.

Four new departments have been notified for the SCB Medical, Cuttack, and two each for MKCG, Berhampur, and VSS, Burla.

The move marks the beginning of efforts by the Government to increase the MBBS seat strength in the three medical colleges from the present 150 to 250.

The process of assessing infrastructure, faculty and other capacities along with identifying the areas that need attention in the medicals so as to get the approval of the Medical Council of India (MCI) has started. A detailed proposal would be sent to the MCI soon, sources said.

Health Minister Prasanna Acharya on Tuesday said 478 beds would be added to 1,200-bed SCB along with 40 doctors and 126 para-medics, including nurses.

Four new departments in Transfusion Medicine, Emergency Medicine, Rheumatology and Hepatology have been announced.

Three professor, 11 associate professor and 34 senior resident posts have been created.

The MKCG would have 181 more beds with two new departments in Transfusion Medicine and Emergency Medicine.

The new posts include two professors, four associate professors, 12 assistant professors, 39 senior residents, 105 staff nurses, 10 nursing sisters, one assistant matron and 15 attendants.

The VSS has been infused with 210 new beds and two departments on Transfusion Medicine and Emergency Medicine. New posts include two professors, five associate professors, 22 assistant professors and 37 senior residents.

ICLEI stands for ‘International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives’. Following is from a recent announcement.

Three Indian Members selected for Dissemination & Replication stage of ACCCRN project

May 02, 2011

ICLEI South Asia is pleased to announce that three Indian cities, Shimla, Jamnagar and Bhubaneswar, all ICLEI Members, have been selected to participate in the Asian Cities Climate Change Resilience Network – Dissemination & Replication (ACCCRN-D&R) project on the basis of an Expression of Interest that was circulated to over 35 Indian cities.

The ACCCRN is made up of ten cities in India, Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam, currently experimenting with various adaptation activities that together aim to improve the ability of these cities to withstand and prepare for the projected impacts of climate change. The ultimate objective of ACCCRN is to provide poor and vulnerable people with the ability to respond to these impacts in an appropriate way.

In order to achieve this, the program partners have developed a diverse range of effective approaches, processes, and practices to build urban climate change resilience which incorporate the priorities of poor and vulnerable communities in the network’s cities.The approaches taken are determined by the local needs and priorities of each city.

Initiated in early 2009, with support from the Rockefeller Foundation, the first two phases of the project have been completed. The third phase has now been launched with a focus on disseminating and replicating the lessons learnt and the approaches developed in the previous phases.

In this third phase, the learning, models, approaches and best practices developed across the 10 pilot cities of the previous phases will be supplemented with best practices from other approaches which build urban climate resilience. This will all be developed into a tool that can be adopted by other cities to develop Climate Resilience Strategy Plans. ICLEI’s South Asia and Oceania offices have been commissioned to implement the third phase of ACCCRN in the three Indian cities.

Read more about the project on the ICLEI South Asia website.

Following is from http://www.iclei.org/index.php?id=12113 about the project.

As part of the Dissemination & Replication phase, a total of 3 Indian cities have be selected for the dissemination of this tool. The selected cities would receive training in the process of formulating Climate Resilience Strategy Plans, which would broadly include:

1.       Undertaking vulnerability assessments
2.       Undertaking climate projection assessments
3.       Engaging stakeholders in the entire process to ensure social relevance and acceptance
4.       Developing a Climate Resilience Strategy Plan document
5.       Integrating the resilience strategy into urban planning and implementation processes

ICLEI SA along with ICLEI Oceania and ISET will replicate the learnings from the previous phases of ACCCRN initiative in 3 other cities. The various interventions are expected to target sectors like health, infrastructure, water, disaster, urban planning/development issues, services, disaster management and preparedness strategies.

The approach followed in the cities will be driven by local needs and requirements with the focus on developing resilience for the vulnerable communities from climate change impacts. ICLEI SA has been engaged to assist develop the methodology in a form suitable for the Indian context and to select and support the Indian cities during the trial period.

Update: Jairam Ramesh has written to the the French ambassador regarding getting a digital copy of Jardine de Lorixa. Following is an excerpt from a report in inewsone.com.

Union Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh Thursday asked for help from the French envoy in India to get a digitised copy of a manuscript on plants in Orissa written by a Frenchman in 1725.

‘I have been told that the oldest document based on a scientific survey of plants in Orissa was written in the year 1725 by a Frenchman called Nikolas L. Empereur,’ said the letter to French Ambassador to India Jerome Bonnafont.

The document is currently available at the Natural History Museum in Paris.

‘I wonder whether we could get a digitized copy of this manuscript. Any expenses incurred in this regards will be borne by us,’ Ramesh said in the letter …

Following is an excerpt from a report in Hindu.

The Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) proposes to develop a “bio-cultural park” on 10 acres here. It will be the first of its kind in the country.

… Environment and Forests Minister Jairam Ramesh said flowers associated with all religions and traditions of the country would find a place in the park.

Mr. Ramesh said: “Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has responded positively to make land available for the purpose. Within the next two-and-half years, you will have India’s first bio-cultural park. Cultural traditions are not Hindu tradition only. Cultural traditions such as tribal, Buddhist, Jain, Sikh, Islamic, and Christian would be followed while choosing species. The bio-cultural park will not just be a monument of flowers, but also will be reflective of our divergent cultural traditions.”

Thje MoEF would develop the park and then hand over it over to the State government. The idea was to draw strength from Indian culture for the cause of conservation of bio-resources. Traditionally, biological sources were being conserved in the form of sacred grooves, ‘nakshatravanams,’ ‘navagraha vatika,’ concept of panchvati and use of timber from ecologically important species for religious purposes.

… the park would be developed on the lines of ‘nakshatravanam …

Following is from http://www.orissalinks.com/archives/6592.

the Ministry would make efforts to get a digital copy of Jardin de Lorixa, considered to be the earliest scientific documentation of traditional/ indigenous knowledge about plants of Orissa, of which only one manuscript is available in Natural History Museum Paris (France).

Following are excerpts on the Jardin de Lorixa.

• From http://www.h-net.org/reviews/showrev.php?id=12120: "Jardin de Lorixa ("Flora of Orissa") authored by a certain L’Empereur, an outstanding work consisting of 725 double-folio paintings of 722 plant species"
• From http://www.circulatingknowledge.ugent.be/index.php?id=16&type=file: " *Jardin de Lorixa* a lesser known herbal commissioned by a French surgeon in Bengal in the early 18th century."
• From http://www.conservationandsociety.org: "a long forgotten herbal known as Le Jardin de Lorixa ( The garden of Orissa ) and credited to a surgeon named Nicolas L’Empereur in the employ of the French Compagnie des Indes"
•  The book "Relocating Modern Science Circulation and the Construction of Scientific Knowledge in South Asia and Europe : Seventeenth to Nineteenth Centuries" by Kapil Raj (Maître de conférences at the École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales in Paris) has one of its six sections dedicated to this. This section is titled: "I. SURGEONS, FAKIRS, MERCHANTS, AND CRAFTSMEN : MAKING L’EMPEREUR’S JARDIN IN EARLY MODERN South Asia" and has the following chapters.
  • 1. From a Forgotten Codex in a Paris Archive
  • 2. To Eastern India in the Seventeenth Century
  • 3. The Origins of the Jardin de Lorixa
  • 4. Making the Jardin de Lorixa
  • 5. The Jardin de Lorixa and the Hortus MaLibaricus
  • 6. L’Empereur’s Jardin Comes to Paris
  • 7. And Gets Anonymized in the Jardin du Roi

Following is from the cover of Jardine De Lorixa.

Following is from Sambada.

The various news reports that initially came after Mr. Jindal met the CM, such as the above, did not mention anything regarding Mr. Jindal wanting iron ore linkage for his steel plants. But reports on the next day mentioned that. Following is an excerpt from a report in Financial Express.

The Jindal Steel & Power Ltd (JSPL), which is all set to commission its 2 million tonne steel plant next month, is desperately looking for iron ore linkage.

JSPL vice-president and managing director Naveen Jindal urged Orissa chief minister Naveen Patnaik for allotment of a captive iron ore mine for the plant.

Jindal met the Orissa CM on Tuesday and discussed the steel project and the captive power plant.

Sources in the government told FE that the JSPL managing director has requested the chief minister Naveen Patnaik to ensure raw material security for the plant through suitable iron ore concession.

Following is from a report in Telegraph.

The polluted Daya West Canal would soon be converted into a two-way road network with a water body at the centre at an estimated cost of Rs 30 crore. The integrated Daya West Canal road project would entail a 7.8-km structure from Palasuni to Garage Chhak connecting NH-5 with NH-203.

The work began today with chief minister Naveen Patnaik laying foundation stone for the integrated project, which would have roads of 30-feet width on both sides of the canal. The 60-feet wide canal would be squeezed to half its width. The roads on both the sides of the water channel would also have barricade for safe plying of vehicles.

… the project would be completed within two years. However, keeping in view the traffic problem on the Rasulgarh-Samantarapur stretch on NH-203, it has been decided to speed up work for the road project so that it could help in diverting traffic from NH-5 from Palasuni to Puri.

… The 7.8-km-long structure would include strengthening of the existing road crossings so that people residing on both sides of the Daya West Canal can easily cross the road. In case of necessity, new road crossings will also be added,’’ said Gantayat.

… To facilitate better traffic flow on the road, there would be provisions like bus bay, autorickshaw stand and common parking lots. There is enough land on both the sides of the canal. In future, therefore, the roads on both sides can be expanded to a six-lane or eight-lane structure as per the demand of the growing traffic.

… In future, the road project with the water body can also become a spot to promote water sports or fun activities such as boating. “We have also included possible space to include such activities, in case the civic authorities or the tourism department wishes to take it up,” he added.

Following is from a report in ibnlive.com.

Orissa blanked three-time champions Bengal 5-0 to clinch their maiden title in the 19th edition of the Senior National women’s football championship at Pant Stadium here today. Orissa’s leading goal scorer Sasmita Mallick struck a brace (5th and 80th), while Jabamoni Soren (50th), Pinky Magar (60th) and Shradhanjali Samantaray (71st) fired in one each to complete the rout. With five minutes remaining, Orissa had an unassailable 5-0 lead when heavy showers stopped play yesterday. Orissa completed the formalities when the play resumed this morning. Incidentally, this was the biggest margin defeat suffered by any team in the championship’s final, surpassing Bengal’s 0-4 loss to Manipur in the second edition of the tournament in 1992-93. The reigning National Games champions, Orissa, thus erased the bitter memories in the final of the last edition of the tournament in Imphal where they lost to Manipur who won their record 14th title. "We had beaten Bengal 4-0 in the quarterfinal league…So we were confident of winning against the same team in the final. Had it been Manipur, the girls would have been a little apprehensive. It’s really a proud moment for us," an ecstatic Orissa coach Chitrasen Patra told PTI. Orissa routed former runners-up Kerala 13-0, blanked Haryana and Bengal by identical scorelines of 4-0 to top group B in their quarterfinal league.

The winning team received a rousing welcome when they returned to Odisha. Following is from Sambada.

An interesting fact to note is that several of the top Odisha players (including the captain and the top scorer), some of whom play for India, are from a particular district in Odisha; the Kendrapada district. This district has sent so many womens football players to play for Odisha and India that it is sometimes referred to as the women’s football cradle of India. Following are some old links about this.

• http://www.odishatoday.com/sports/World_Cup_soccer_mania_grips_Kendrapara_120610-976987648465356423563734586.html Excerpts: … backward villages in Aul and Rajkanika region here. The villages shot to fame for contributing a number of emerging women footballers of both State and national repute in the past few years. At least 15 of them are now playing for the country in various age groups while the State women’s football team mostly includes players from this region. Five international players, Sashmita Mallick, Suprava Samal, Sangita Patra, Alochana Senapati and Gayatri Mallik are all from Aul-Rajkanika region of this district while Alochana and Sashmita have emerged as idols in the country.

• http://expressbuzz.com/States/Orissa/two-kendrapara-girls-bend-it-like-beckham/147378.html
• http://www.telegraphindia.com/1100916/jsp/orissa/story_12940399.jsp : A cluster of backward villages in Aul teshil region of Kendrapara district continues to dribble past all odds to reach the goal of churning out the best women footballers for the state.

  This success story began about eight years ago when the mini stadium of Aul block hosted a series of exhibition of women’s football matches. Since then, many women footballers from Aul have donned the national jersey.

  “It’s an amazing story. Although the girls are mostly from poor economic background, patronage of the Aul Athletics Association has resulted in many of them entering the soccer arena,” said Raj Kamal Mandal, a former coach of women’s football and district sports officer of Kendrapara.

  At present, nine girls from Aul are international players representing the country at various levels.

  “While three local girls are part of senior national team, the junior (under-19) squad includes two players from the Aul belt. Five footballers from this area represent the country in the sub-junior (under-16) team,” Mandal said.

  The state women’s football team is virtually packed with girls from Aul. Thirty-six girls have found their place in Orissa’s senior, junior and sub-junior women’s football teams. It is a matter of pride that they have overcome poverty and social stigma to achieve success.

  Most of these emerging stars are from far-flung and unknown villages such as Malapatana, Giribandha, Goudpatana, Mulasahi, Niala, Kanteipur, Telepatana, Dhanamandal and Adheikana.

  … “After a few exhibition matches in 2008, we invited the girls of Aul to take part in a training camp. The response was amazing. Over 40 girls eagerly waited for the training session to commence. Since then, they never looked back. At present, we have a reserve pool of around 50 girls who undergo training at the Aul stadium,” Sharma said.

Following are excerpts from a report in Times of India.

… NHAI state project director Aditya Kumar Ray said work has started on the flyovers at Rasulgarh and Fire Station and the construction similar projects at CRPF Square, Acharya Vihar and Vani Vihar will commence soon.

Except for the Rasulgarh project, the other flyovers will be similar to the one at Jaydev Vihar. The Rasulgarh flyover will have extra slopes to facilitate seamless traffic flow from Cuttack to Puri as well as on NH-5. It will be aesthetically designed as an entrance point to Bhubaneswar, he said.

… Sources said NHAI needed to acquire more land at Rasulgarh to execute the project. "We are in the process of acquiring some more land at Rasulgarh. Everywhere else in Bhubaneswar, the expansion will happen with the land already acquired," Ray said.

NHAI plans to construct vehicular underpasses at VSS Nagar, Vani Vihar railway overbridge (ROB), Pahal, Press Chowk. The pedestrian underpasses will be built at Kali temple, CRPF Chowk, Iskon temple, OCAC building, RTO office, University Law College and Rasulgarh.

Just outside Bhubaneswar, NHAI will construct flyovers at Phulnakhara, Khapuria, Jagatpur and Manguli in Cuttack. Work for three-lane bridges over the rivers Hansapal, Kathajodi, Mahanadi and Birupa has already started. "The bridges will be hopefully ready by 2014," Ray said.

The existing two-way bridges on these rivers will be made one way and the new bridges will be used for traffic going the other way. The NHAI had signed an agreement with Sri Jagannath Expressway Pvt Ltd, a concessionaire of three private firms (SREI, Simplex and GALFAR), on August 6, 2010, for widening and redevelopment of the 67-km-long Bhubaneswar-Chandikhol section of the Kolkata-Chennai highway. The road will be constructed to sustain vehicular traffic at a speed of 100 km per hour. However, the actual speed limit will be decided by the civic administration, the NHAI official said.

The project will cost Rs 1,047 crore and NHAI will provide Rs 205 crore. The developer will generate the rest of the funds through design, build, finance, operate and transfer (DBFOT) basis. "The developer will maintain the road for 26 years,” Ray said.

Once the construction is over, the developer will collect toll from the road users. According to initial estimates, heavy vehicles will have to pay something over Rs 100 and light vehicles would be charged an amount between Rs 80 to Rs 100.

… At present, over 5,000 heavy vehicles pass through the national highway in the city every day. To reduce the traffic load within Bhubaneswar, police divert the vehicles towards Cuttack from Pitapalli via Chandaka. Sources said NHAI has plans to make a bypass road from Khurda to Tangi bypassing Cuttack and Bhubaneswar.

Although I personally would prefer that the location is used for an IT or Knowledge park, it seems  the power-plant project is making stead progress. Following is from the page http://www.tatapower.com/services/power-projects.aspx#naraj.

All major clearances for the 660 MW Naraj Marthapur project have been obtained. The environmental clearance from the Ministry of Environment and Forests is obtained. The plant is expected to be commissioned within three years of the completion of the land acquisition, which is expected to be completed during the year. Tata Power has been allotted the Mandakini coal block located in the Angul district of Orissa, along with Monnet Ispat and Energy Limited, and Jindal Photo Limited.

Wlid life Conservation Plan

Consent to Establish- Naraj Marthapur

Approval of Wildlife Conservation Plan

List of Activities for wild life Conservation

Click here for the Environmental Clearance from the Ministry of Environment and Forests

I hope it is not too late to change this plan. Following are maps from the Wlid life Conservation Plan document.

The above maps do not show the location of Bhubaneswar and Cuttack. Following is a map that shows it.

The six new ports are Kirtania (Balasore district), Chudamani (Bhadrak district), Dhamara (Bhadrak district), Astaranga (Puri district), Baliharchandi (Puri district) and Gopalpur (Ganjam district).

Following is a report from Sambada.

For all these years a major road passed between Khanadagiri and Udaygiri sites with various shops along the road. See picture below.

Finally the government has a plan to close this road and create the right ambiance for such a historic site. Following are excerpts from a report in Telegraph.

The state government has decided to close a road that passes through the historic Khandagiri and Udaygiri caves to vehicular traffic in a bid to bolster tourism and beautify the environs of the twin hills.

The Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) took the first step in this regard by identifying 24 shops near the hills.

These have been asked to shift behind the Udayagiri hills where a vending zone is coming up.

Priyadarshi Mohapatra, deputy municipal commissioner, said: “The state government plans to give a distinct touch to the historic monuments in the 2nd Century BC Khandagiri-Udayagiri caves. For that, the historic sites is expected to be visible from a distance and not get hidden under an unplanned growth of shops and vendors.”

There is a ‘panthanivas’ and a public convenience centre, but the other areas are either used for unplanned parking of heavy vehicles or have been encroached upon by vendors and shop owners.

“Today we initiated the process to find out the genuine shop owners so that they can be relocated behind the Udayagiri hills in front of the proposed tourism information centre, which is being developed by the Orissa Tourism Development Corporation,” Mohapatra added.

…“Once the space in front of Khandagiri-Udayagiri with 33 caves is clear of the congestion, tourists will enjoy their stay in the caves.

“They would have more recreation facilities once the beautification drive takes place in sync with the architecture of the hills,” said a tourism official of the state government.

… The tourism complex near Khandagiri-Udayagiri caves will house a quality interpretation centre with a food court serving an array of Oriya cuisine, public convenience, souvenir centre, audio-visual facility and entertainment and independent parking space.

This will serve as a cultural hub so that tourists coming to the city, especially to the cave sites and Jayadev Vatika, will have a detailed knowledge about the cultural tradition of the state.

Besides the interpretation centre, a common facilitation centre for handicrafts development will also be included in the compound to promote artisans in stone, brass and bell metals, fibre art, applique, terracotta and pattachitra work.

Following is from a report in Economic Times.

What’s in it for the locals?

Asit Swain, who lives in Nawagaam, one of the affected panchayats, told ET that the compensation package has been finalised. Farmers will get Rs 11,500 for every decimal (one-tenth of an acre) of betel vine plantations and Rs 18 lakh for every acre where two crops can be grown in a year.

Those growing cashew or farming prawns on government land (without land titles) will get Rs 2 lakh per acre. As for the landless,they will get Rs 2,250 per month till they find employment. They will also get a sum, added Swain, equal to a fifth of what the betel vine cultivators and farmers get.

In addition, two months ago, Industrial Promotion and Investment Corporation of Orissa (Ipicol) recommended a new clause be added to the MoU stipulating that 90% of the unskilled and semiskilled workers, 60% of the skilled workers and 30% of the managerial posts in the project be hired from the local community.

What’s in it for Posco?

Clearly, the project continues to be hugely lucrative for Posco, which is why the company is staying on despite all these delays. The company will get a guaranteed supply of iron ore for at least 30 years, a commodity, whose prices have soared 43% since the beginning of last year.

From recent news that are coming out (see for example,  http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/anti-posco-brigade-hit-hard-by-defectionvillagers/434888/ ) it seems like the POSCO project will now sail through.

With that assumption, I suggest that the government take better care of the people that are being displaced and keeps it focus on the "From mineral resources to Human resources" theme.

To take better care of the displaced people:

(a) the government must have a mechanism to ensure that the compensation paid to the people is not blown away in a year or 2 and the displaced people have nothing to fall back on. Some approaches such as annuity payments for part of the compensation and making the people a shareholder of the plant with specialized shares, which can not be sold immediately, need to be considered. In addition the R & R must include the education of all kids (of displaced people) in decent schools (DAV type), similar to what Vedanta University Project was/is(?) doing in Puri.

To address the "mineral resources to Human resources" goal:

(b) the government must insist that POSCO establish in Odisha a significant branch (or a similar institute) of its top ranked (in research) university POSTECH of S. Korea. This is the least they can and should do for being assured of raw minerals at a low low price.

(c) the government must insist that POSCO establish more of its ancillaries in Odisha itself rather than in other states.

Following is from a report in Business Standard.

Orissa government today approved nine new projects, including coal-to-liquid (CTL), steel and aluminium units involving investment of Rs 1,36,000 crore.

The projects got the final nod at a meeting of the high-level clearance authority chaired by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, Industries secretary T Ramachandru said.

Apart from two CTL, two steel and one aluminium units, the approved projects included a power plant, one textile unit, a paper plant and an aluminium park, he said.

Among the major proposals was the Rs 42,000 CTL project of Jindal Symflex Ltd to be set up at Durgapur in Angul district using German Lurgi technology, he said adding its capacity would be 80,000 barrels per day.

Requiring 4,000 acre of land, the project would have an 1100 mw captive power plant. Set to provide 6500 direct employment, it would use 90 cusec water from river Mahanadi.

Another CTL project is proposed to be set up by Strategic Energy Technology Systems Pvt Ltd, a joint venture of Tata and Saso, at an investment of Rs 35,000 crore at Gudiakateni in Dhenkanal district.

With a capacity of 80,000 barrels per day, the project requiring 4,000 acre land would have 1100 mw generation facility. It would generate 6700 direct employment while drawing 90 cusec water from river Mahanadi.

An aluminium project is proposed to be set up by a joint venture of L&T and Dubal at an investment of Rs 30,000 crore over an area of 4000 acre in Rayagada district. Its refinery would have 3 mtpa capacity and smelter 1.5 mtpa. It would draw 60 cusec water from river Nagavali.

Seeking to further raise energy production, the HLCA cleared a proposal of Lanco Dabandh Power Ltd to have another 1320 mw unit at an investment of Rs 5000 crore in addition to its earlier plant of same capacity in Dhenkanal district.

In textile sector, Andhra Pradesh based NSL Textiles Ltd would set up an integrated textile plant at an investment of Rs 1500 crore with a promise to provide 5000 jobs and steps to encourage one lakh farmers to grow cotton over an area of 2.25 lakh hectares of land.

Following are excerpts from a report in Pioneer.

With this, the total investments in the State’s industry sector went up to `5.36 lakh crore.

… Principal Secretary of Industries, T Ramachandru said the two ambitious coal-to-liquid projects are first of its kind in the country to be set up in joint venture. While Jindal Synfuels Limited of Jindal Steel and Power would set up a `.42,000-crore plant with technical collaboration of Largy of Germany, Strategic Energy Technology, a Tata venture, would establish its project with an investment of `45,000 crore with technological collaboration of Sasol of South Africa.

He said Jindal;s plant would be located at Durgapur in Angul district with a production capacity of 80,000 barrels of diesel and other petroleum products per day. Besides, Jindal Synfuels would also establish a 1100-MW captive thermal power plant. The project would require 90 cusecs of water to be drawn from the Mahanadi. It would require about 4000 acres of land. It would provide employment to around 6,500 persons.

The Tatas would set up their project in Dhenkanal district in 4,000 acres of land with a requirement of 90 cusecs of water. The project, which includes a 1,100-MW captive power plant, has direct employment potential of 6,400 persons and would produce 80,000 barrels of petroleum products per day, Ramachandru said.

He said both the projects have already been allotted with coal blocks by the Central Government.

Aditya Aluminium would establish an aluminium park at Katarbaga near Rengali in Sambalpur district by investing `1,300 crore to encourage ancillary and downstream industries in the small-scale sector. The park, which would require 211 acres of land, would facilitate units like foundry, wire drawing, extrusion and coil in its cluster.

The HLCA also approved the proposal of L&T Dubal, a joint venture company of L&T and Dubal Aluminium of Dubai, to establish an integrated aluminium project with a 3-MTPA alumina refinery and a 1.5-MTPA smelter with an investment proposal of `30,000 crore. The aluminium project would be located at Rayagada. The project, whichwould provide direct employment to 3,000 persons, would require 4,000 acres of land and 60 cusecs of water to be drawn from Nagavali river. The company is already in possession of bauxite mines.

Andhra Pradesh-based NSL Textile has also received clearance of its proposal to set up an integrated textile project at Rayagada with 3-lakh spindle capacity. The company would invest `1,500 crore to produce 6,000 pieces of cloths of varied qualities per day, Ramachandru said. He said the company would enter into agreements with farmers for cultivation of cottons to meet its raw material demands. The company would involve at least one lakh cotton growers for cultivation of cotton in 2.5 lakh acres of land in a buyback process. It would instal ginning, cotton processing, yarn preparation and finished clothes plants. It requires 400 acres of land Besides these new projects, the Industries Secretary said, the HLCA cleared the proposal of JK Paper Ltd of Rayagada to expand its capacity to 1.5 lakh tonne per annum with an involvement of `1,475 crore. With the capacity addition, the company would provide employment to 3,800 more persons. The company has applied for 150 acres of land to its existing 659 acres to set up the expansion project.

The HLCA also accorded approval to Adhunik Metalics to expand its steelmaking capacity to 3.2 MTPA in its Kuanramunda project in Sundargarah district. The company, which proposes an additional investment of `8,125 crore, promises to provide 2,100 more jobs. Presently, its production capacity is around .041 MTPA. It requires 100 acres of land for the expansion project.

OCL Iron and Steel Ltd got the clearance for capacity addition to its project at Kutnia, Rajgangpur to 0.95 MTPA at an investment of `2,834 crore. It proposes to provide 2,500 more direct jobs. It also envisages downstream industries and requires 650 acres land.

The HLCA also approved the proposal of existing Lacno Babandh Power Private Ltd at Khadakhprasad to double its power generation capacity from 1,320 MW.

It proposes to set up two new units of 660 MW and invest additional `5,000 crore in its thermal power plant. It requires an additional 700 acres of land and would provide employment to 800 more persons, the Industries Secretary said.

Following is an excerpt from a report in Business Standard.

The State Level Single Window Clearance Authority (SLSWCA) on Monday cleared two projects in the energy sector involving a total investment of Rs 1,045 crore.

The projects which got the nod of the Single Window authority are those proposed by Hyderabad-based Primo Power & Infra Ltd and Konark Kanti Energy Ltd.

Primo Power & Infra Ltd has proposed to set up a 60 MW coal-fired thermal power plant at Gania village in Nayagarh district at a cost of Rs 300 crore. The power plant will create direct employment for 80 people.

"Konark Kanti Energy Ltd will set up 110 MW coal-based power plant at Baghiapara in Boudh district at an investment of Rs 435 crore. This project will generate direct employment for 70 persons. Besides, the company has also proposed to set up a petroleum based downstream industry at Paradip at a cost of Rs 200 crore and a petroleum storage tank at Dhamara at Rs 110 crore", T Ramachandru, principal secretary (industries), Orissa government told reporters after the meeting of SLSWCA chaired by the state Chief Secretary B K Patnaik.

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.

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.

(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.