___________

Besides the new trains, extensions and increase in frequency, Orissa comes up in the Railway budget in the following places: (Note: The 2007-2008 budget with its pink book is also available.)

• On new lines the allocations to Orissa (all in ECOR) are (Total 164.43 crores) – from the Pink Book
  • Koraput-Rayagada – 5 crores
  • Talcher – Sambalpur – 2 crores
  • Lanjigarh Rd – Junagarh – 35 crores (57 crore more needed to finish)
  • Khurda Rd – Balangir – 32.43 crores (580 crores more to finish)
  • Haridaspur-Paradip – 80 crores via RVN (401 crores more to finish)
  • Talcher – Bimlagarh – 10 crores (847 crores more to finish)
• New Lines (Total 80 crores) – from the orange book
  • Daitari-Bansapani – 20 crores (69.2 crores more to finish) – ECOR
  • Angul – Sukinda Rd – 60 crores (251.12 crores more to finish) – ECOR
• On gauge conversion (Total 50.41) – from the Pink Book
  • Naupada- Gunupur – 10.41 crores (14.7 crores more to finish) – ECOR
  • Rupsa – Bangiriposi – 40 crores (11.1 crores more to finish) – SER
• Doubling (Total 288.25 crores) – from the Pink Book
  • Talcher-Cuttack-Paradeep (2nd bridge on Birupa and Mahanadi) – 3.25 crores (1.75 crores more to finish) – ECOR
  • Cuttack-Barang (12km) – 35 crores (51 crores more needed to finish) – ECOR
  • Khurda Barang 3rd line (35 km) – 125 crores (14.43 crores more  to finish) – ECOR
  • Rajathagarh-Barang (20 km) –  125 crores (18.33 crores more to finish) – ECOR
• Doubling (total  350 crores ) – from the orange book
  • Titlagarh-Lanjigarh Rd – 7 crores (29 lakhs more to finish) – ECOR
  • Khurda Rd – Puri Phase 1 – 2 crores (2.79 crores more to finish)-ECOR
  • Sambalpur – Rengali – 2 crores (8.76 crores more needed)-ECOR
  • Jharsugurha – Rengali – 45 crores (26.41 crores more needed)-ECOR
  • Sambalpur – Titlagarh – 65 crores (399.25 crores needed)-ECOR
  • Raipur – Titlagarh – 65 crores (548.35 crores needed)-ECOR
  • Padapahar-Bansapani – 70 crores (26.58 crores needed) – SER
  • Barbil – Barjamada – 40 crores (5 crores needed) – SER
  • Bimlagarh – Dumitra – 50 crores (23.52 crores needed) – SER
  • Bansapani – Jaruli – 4 crores (72.22 crores needed) – SER

(Below, a slightly edited version of  a posting in IRFCA gives the difference between the Pink book, the Orange book and the green book used in earlier years.)

• Green book lists the works sanctioned under SRSF(special railway safety fund). All these works are to be completed by 31.3.2008 .Therefore this year a green book was not published. Green book was prepared as a 5 yr plan in 2003 to renew overaged assets chargeable to the SRSF of Rs 17000 cr.
• Orange book contains those works which are justified for enhancing the carrying capacity of Route (i.e., throughput enhancement work in railway terminology). It contains those gauge conversion, doubling & traffic facility works which are sanctioned for the enhancement of throughput. Railway gives higher priority to complete them.
• Pink book is the main book of budget & contains all sanctioned (new as well as work in progress) works except those which are in the green or orange book.

The following is from http://envfor.nic.in/fsi/sfr99/sfr.html. The maps below are also copied from there. Both talk about the status in 1999. More info on Orissa forests is at http://www.orissafdc.com/.

India:

The recorded forest area of the country, as reported by the state forest departments, is 76.52 million ha which constitutes 23.28 per cent of the total geographical area of the country.

Orissa:

The recorded forest area is 5.72 million ha, which constitutes 36.73% of the geographic area of the state. The forests are uniformly distributed in the state except in coastal districts where they are scarce. By legal status, the Reserved Forest constitutes 47.37%, Protected Forest 52.60% and Unclassed Forest 0.03%. About 0.503 million ha, constituting 8.8% of total forest area, is affected by shifting cultivation.    

There are four forest types namely Tropical Semi Evergreen, Tropical Moist Deciduous, Tropical Dry Deciduous, and Littoral and Swamp Forests.

Update: Times of India also writes about it with headlines "2,500 years ago, a city bigger than Athens in Orissa" and "Lost city had all urban amenities." See also this Telegraph report.

Following is an excerpt from a report in Hindu.

Researchers involved in excavation at the ancient city of Sisupalgarh on the outskirts of Bhubaneswar have come across a number of artefacts and structures that throw light on the existence of a flourishing urban life during the pre-historic period.

 

The geophysical research showed large-scale patterns of subsurface architecture such as streets, which were visible linking the gateways in the interior of the site, and a large ancient perimeter area around the pillar zone, said R.K. Mohanty of the Pune-based Deccan College and Monica L. Smith of the University of California here on Thursday.

These researchers, with the help of students from different universities and the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), began their work in 2000, about 50 years after the first excavation.

After several deep trenches, they have now exposed 18 previously unknown pillars and several associated structures on a mound within the fortification wall.

Sisupalgarh was absolutely visible through naked eyes as well as from the space and this could be one of its kinds of cultural heritage in the whole of eastern India, the researchers claimed.

“It seemed to be a large city, which could have been governed under one ruler. The ancient population inhabiting the place was estimated to be 25,000,” said Mr. Mohanty, an archaeologist.

“The civilisation could have lasted for more than 1,000 years between 3rd BC and 3rd AD,” he said.

Researchers worked on the place adjacent to a “majestic gate” excavated by Prof B.B. Lal in 1950. They found house foundations of laterite block architecture. The habitation areas also contained very large quantities of household pottery such as bowls and jars along with other household artefacts such as iron nails and terracotta ornaments including bangles, finger rings, pendants and ear spools.

Pointing out that the latest debris deposits and pillars indicated that it was meant for public use, Ms. Smith said the ancient artisans at Sisupalgarh were manufacturing potteries massively and those were in rapid use.

“It suggested that the people, animals and trash were closely integrated in the crowded space of the city. …

Exchange4media reports that Radio Choklate is on air in Rourkela. Following is an excerpt from that report.

Radio Choklate, the radio initiative of Oriya daily ‘Sambad’ from Eastern Media Pvt Ltd, has gone on air in Rourkela recently. Monica Nayyar Patnaik, Director, Eastern Media Ltd, said, “We are quite well-known in Orissa, and we feel really proud to enter new markets here with our FM channel. Our objective is to make more cities of this state listen to Odisha’s Apna No. 1.”

Following is an excerpt from http://www.indiaprwire.com/.

BIG 92.7 FM, India’s No.1 Radio station today announced the latest edition to its kitty, with the launch of its Station in Rourkella. The launch of BIG 92.7 FM in the City marks the launch of the 43rd Station of the network. …

In Rourkela, BIG RJ’s Rajiv, Priyanka, Sneha and Shaheen will be entertaining the steel city of Orissa.

The joyride will start at 5am with Aradhana followed by Breakfast show BIG Chai 6am -9 am. Other shows include Hello Zindagi, Ring Road 927, Thoda Gyan Thodi Masti, Evening Masala and Direct Dil Se.

To ensure the highest aspirational appeal and connect with its listeners, BIG 92.7 FM has Abhishek Bachchan as the Brand Ambassador.

Commenting on the station’s entry into Rourkela, Mr. Soumen Ghosh Choudhury, Regional Head East, BIG 92.7 FM, said “We are very excited about launching in the city of Rourkela. We are the first private radio station in the region to do so. The programming mix of the Station with programmes like Aradhana, BIG Chai, Hello Zindagi, Ring Road 927, Thoda Gyan Thodi Masti, Evening Masala and Direct Dil Se have been put together after much research and understanding of local requirements. It is our aim to create content that is relevant, credible and has an aspirational value for the listeners. We are completely geared and are eagerly looking forward to entertaining the city of Rourkela. We are sure the city will welcome us with open arms and will enjoy the programmes on our Station.”

This is a very interesting set of training programs and presentations in traditional performance arts such as:

• Ghanta Mardala
• Shankirtan
• Gotipua dance
• Chhau dance
• Odissi mardala
• Odissi dance
• Odissi Vocal
• Shankhi Nata
• Shabda Nrutya
• Pala
• Danda Nata
• Dhudki Nata
• Ghoda nata
• Daskathia

Following are excerpts from an Odisha.in report on this.

• Existing channels: OTV and ETV
• Manoj Dash group had issued notice in the newspapers announcing that they have purchased all the stakes of MD TV.
  According to sources, Dash would soon go ahead with completing the necessary formalities with different ministries to launch his channel.

  It is likely to be a news-cum-entertainment channel in Oriya. However the promoters have so far not finalized the shape of channel. However, it would have its studio and office at Alaka Buildings in Unit-II of Bhubaneswar, from where the programmes would be up linked to the satellite from the tele-port already installed over the building.

• Pravat Kumar Mallick, promoter of Bhubaneswar College of Engineering, and Kaustav group of technical institutes has also made some progress towards launching an Oriya satelite channel named as Naxatra TV.

  According to sources close to the promoter, the channel will be basically a news channel and would also promote awareness about technical education. As a prelude to launching of the channel, the group have already launched  English and Oriya news portal Naxatranews.com, with eminent scribe Ashok Mohapatra as its editor.

• …, the only media house which has made some progress in planning for launching an Oriya news channel is Soumya Ranjan Patnaik’s ” Sambad ” group.
  

  After unexpected success of  ” Radio Chocolate ” FM Channel,  dreamer Patnaik seems to  be determined to  launch ” Sambad TV ” an Oriya satellite news channel.

  Since Sambad group is a professional group in production of newspapers , the news regarding preparations for launching of Sambad TV is likely to inspire many young journalists in the State.

The Statesman reported the following.

The new industrial policy of the state is laying primary importance on agro-food processing, IT, bio-technology, medicine, pharmaceuticals, garments and textile, said state energy, IT and culture minister Mr Surya Narayan Patro.

Contradicting earlier speculation of slow progress between the state Government and ADGC on IT center in the state capital area, today “The Pioneer” reported that

“The Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group (ADAG) has evinced interest to set up an information technology centre in the city or its outskirts. The process to acquire the required 40 acres of land for the Dhirubhai Ambani IT Centre is on. After the ADAG submitted the proposal, the Orissa Computer Application Centre has forwarded it to the State-run Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation (IDCO).”

It also added

“the representatives of ADAG have inspected three places in Jatni and two places in Khurda for identifying the land, according to IDCO sources.”

Following is an excerpt from a Pioneer report on this.

The State Culture Department on Wednesday decided to construct a theatre hall and an auditorium here, said an official of the department. …

… Rabindra Mandap and Bhanja Kala Mandap are the two available platforms in the city to facilitate staging of dramas and theaters. …

Noteworthy that in 1988 theaters were being staged for five days in a week in the city and the revenue generated from it was shared between the Government and the theatre house. But, the trend came to a halt in 1992.

In order to revive the professional theatre houses like Utkal Rangamanch Trust, the State Government in1997 fixed the responsibility on Bhanja Kala Mandap.

Now, it has been possibly decided to construct a theatre hall in the premises of Guru Kelu Charan Mohapatra Odissi Research Centre. Once constructed, the hall would at a time accommodate 350 persons. It is proposed to be built on the architect fashion of Pruthwi theatre hall in Mumbai. The estimated cost of the proposed hall is Rs 3 crore.

Besides, an auditorium with the capacity of 1,000 seats would constructed at Sainik School and the estimated cost of the auditorium is Rs 12 crore. For this purpose four acres of land have been earmarked. It will be built in the line of Rabindra Mandap, said the officer.

Following is an excerpt from a report in Hindu.

The team:

Ronibala Chanu, Prashanthi Pradhan (goalkeepers); Gulti Choudhry, Ansha, Madhukumari, Alochana Senapathi, Jayanthi Barua, A. Romidevi, Thoi, Gitanjali Khuntia (defenders); Pinki Magar Bhompal, O. Bembem, Geetarani Chanu, Amoolya Jayaram, Gayathri Mallick, Lalvermoi Hmar, Sasmita Malik, Rinku Ghosh (mid fielders), N.C. Bala Devi, Shilpi Deb, Domiaka, S. Vasanthi, Jagdeep Kaur (strikers).

Following is from Dharitri.

Earlier we mentioned the Shipyard proposal by Bharti shipyards and the Apeejay Surendra group. Following are some more details, excerpted from a Kalinga Times report.

Orissa is all set to have a shipbuilding factory at Charidiha near Dhamra mouth in Bhadrak district of the State. It will be the first such private sector venture in eastern India.

The Apeejay Surrendra Group and Bharati Shipyard Limited would set up the ultra-modern ship-manufacturing factory jointly with an investment of Rs 2,200 crore.

The factory will have both ship-manufacturing as well as repairing facilities. The project would create job opportunity for 41000 people directly and indirectly. …

Work on the project will commence in middle of 2008 and the same would be implemented in three phases to be completed by the end of 2013.

The growth taking place in the steel sector in Orissa would be of great helping for the shipbuilding factory.

In the first phase, 75000 tonnes of steel will be used for establishing the ship making factory. In the second phase, the project will require 2,30,000 tonnes of steel, and 4,50,000 tonnes in the third phase.

The government said that the company would also set up an industrial training centre at Dhamra area to train its prospective employees.

Dhamra has already been news as the Dhamra Port Company Limited (DPCL), a joint venture of L&T and Tata Steel, has already started groundwork for setting up of a deep port at the Dhamra mouth.

…

The Apeejay Surrendra Group has also expressed its willingness to set up a research and design centre and a Knowledge Park at Bhubaneswar, the government said.

The Knowledge Park would have a school as well as higher education on subjects such as business management, hotel management, fashion designing, food technology, and nutrition science and nautical science.