___________

(Thanks to Devasis Sarangi for the pointers.)

Update: See also http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/bhubaneswar/Technology-propels-late-baby-boom/articleshow/9328807.cms. Following are some excerpts.

The twin cities of Bhubaneswar and Cuttack have around 50 fertility clinics offering various treatment options, apart from helping to procure donor eggs and sperms. "Most couples prefer their own donors for eggs and sperms though we also arrange them on demand from authorized agencies," said Dr Prabhat Nalini Mohanty, another fertility expert in Bhubaneswar.

"We can also help provide a surrogate mother if a family wants," said Dr Mohanty, who claims to have performed Orissa’s first surrogate delivery last year.

The cost of treatment varies from person to person depending on treatment options. "It can cost anything between Rs 50,000 to over a lakh. It depends on the woman’s condition," Mohanty said.

Following is an excerpt from a report in Business Standard.

After committing investments on a new six million-tonne-per-annum (mtpa) steel plant, a captive power plant and a coal-to-liquid project in Orissa, Jindal Steel & Power Ltd (JSPL) has evinced interest on setting up a captive port in Ganjam district.

It involves a capital cost of Rs 1,424 crore, while the operational cost of running the port would be Rs 152 crore per annum. The first phase is scheduled to be operational by 2017.

The location is 30 km south of the existing Gopalpur port and 18 km from Berhampur.

JSPL today made a presentation to the state commerce and transport department on the proposed port at the mouth of the Bahuda river, a perennial port. The port does not require acquisition of farm land and there are no issues involved with nesting of the endangered Olive Ridley turtles in the area.

… The captive port will handle capesize vessels (150,000 or dwt) for coal and coke and Handymax vessels (50,000 dwt) for general cargo. During the first phase, the port will have two dedicated berths for handling coal and limestone and one berth for general cargo. The port is anticipated to handle about 33 million tonnes per annum of coal and other import items. Six capesize vessels of 150,000 dwt would make 36 visits each per annum for 33 mtpa of coal and other export items.

Work on the second phase is set to begin after 2017, when the port will have three more general berths.

By 2017, the port is expected to handle 4.93 million tonnes (mt) of steel coils and 900,000 tonnes of steel plates. Similarly, the company will import 5.5 mt of coking coal, 7.46 mt of non-coking coal, 2.6 mt of limestone and 3.7 mt of dolomite through this port by that period.

By 2020, the export of coils from the port is projected at 9 mt. Likewise, JSPL would import 12.6 mt coking coal, 7.5 mt non-coking coal, 4.4 mt limestone and 4.7 mt dolomite.

The multiplier effects of the port include revenue from cargo handling, regional economic development, and employment generation, development of road and rail connectivity and acceleration of local economy as well as that of the state.

In the last couple of days there have been several news items regarding improving the air connectivity and airport infrastructure in Odisha. These include:

• Steps towards improving the current airport in Bhubaneswar.
• Steps towards expediting the Jharsuguda airport.
• Steps towards having air services to two additional airports in the state.

Following are some of the news items and excerpts.

Following are excerpts from a report in Times of India.

The city has moved a step closer to its dream of an international airport with the state government identifying over 2,000 acres of land, around 40 km south of the capital, on National Highway 5 for it. "We have identified over 2,000 acre near Jankia and Malipada villages. The survey work is on," Khurda collector Hrusikesh Tripathy said.

Sources said land of around 20 villages, including Gayabandha, Malipada, Dalaka, Pota and Godipada, a large tract of cashew plantation belonging to the Orissa State Cashew Development Corporation, are being considered for the proposed international airport.

Official sources said the area was considered for three main reasons. One, the government has a big patch of land available in the area. So the proposed airport would require minimum land acquisition and displacement. Secondly, the NH will provide good connectivity to the airport from the city. Thirdly, it will be a strategically located for Cuttack-Bhubaneswar urban complex as well as Puri and Berhampur.

…"The airport plan is futuristic keeping in mind the city’s need for 2030 and beyond. The location has to keep in mind the city’s needs then.

… Officials said the airport plan is still at a nascent stage. A committee under the revenue divisional commissioner (central range) has tentatively identified the land. After it finalises actual details of the land, the government would send the same for a feasibility study to the Airports Authority of India. If AAI gives it a go-ahead, the government would go for land acquisition. After that the government and AAI would involve private parties to develop the airport, they said. "The current airport almost divides the city into two. It is high time to consider shifting it to a new location," said BDA planning member Prashant Patnaik.

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.  

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.

Readers: Guess which location is depicted by the following picture.

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.

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.

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 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 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.

(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.”