Another meet to end rift on titanium project
Bhubaneswar:: Concerned over the rift between partners of Titanium Products Pvt Ltd (TPPL), an Indo-Russian joint venture for setting up India’s first titanium unit in Odisha, the state government has decided to convene yet another meeting next month, official sources said.
As three meetings between the promoters of TTPL failed to yield any result, the state government will convene yet another meeting in a bid to resolve the dispute; Industries minister Raghunath Mohanty informed.
A MoU for the Rs 2,000-crore project which was to be completed by October 2010, was signed in October 2008.
The project could not progress due to dispute between TPPL’s Indian partner Saraf Agencies Limited and the Russians over 200 acre of land near Chhatrapur in Ganjam district.
Indian and Russian promotors have 45 per cent and 55 per cent equity stake in the joint venture company.
The dispute started when the State owned Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation (IDCO) alloted 200 acre of land in name of Kolkata based Saraf Agencies last year.
Objecting to the allocation of land to one partner instead of the joint venture company., the Russian engineers made it clear that they were not going to start work on the project unless the land was allotted to the JV Company.
The state government, in a joint meeting with partners, asked them to resolve the issue amicably soon. “However, they have failed to resolve the issue, Mohanty said.
Besides a meeting here, the partners have met once at Delhi and also in Russia. But the deadlock continues.


JSPL bid to promote education of girl child
Bhubaneswar: In Odisha, there are 3.2 lakh out-of-school children, of whom almost 2 lakh are girls. There is a huge gap between the educational achievement of boys and girls. Twenty out of the thirty districts of Odisha have female literacy rates lower than the national average.
Only 44 per cent of the children enrolled are girls, and tribal girls make up only 18 per cent of the total girls enrolled. Socio-economic factors and low quality of education available for the children in poor and marginalised communities are the major reasons for this discrepancy.
Believing that if one educates a girl then her family will automatically get educated, JSPL begun organising Best of Luck Gift Distribution Ceremony in 10 peripheral High Schools in Angul district covering 243 girls who are appearing at matriculation examination this year at Raijharan High School, Mallikeswar High School, Benagadia High School, Centenary Tribal High School, Ambapal-Natada High School, Badakerjang GP High School, Badakerjang GP High School, Gondibedha High School, and Raijharan GP High School.
All the girls are felicitated with a gift in the presence of the school administrators and other girls, which not only boosts their morale to do well in the examination but also motivates them to peruse education further.
To develop the confidence of the girls, women employees are involved in distribution of the good luck gifts so that the girl child can make them as their role model and succeed in near future.


Posco among 100 firms to survive for next 100 years
Bhubaneswar: World’s fourth largest steel-maker Posco has been included in the global list of 100 companies that will last the next 100 years.
The list, released recently, includes companies from 15 countries from all sectors of economy.


ARSS Infrastructure Project IPO to open on Feb 8
Jaipur: Odisha-based construction company ARSS Infrastructure Project Saturday said that its initial public offer (IPO) will open on February 8.
The bid will open on February 8 and close on February 11, the company's finance director S K Patnaik told media here.
The company has fixed the price band between Rs 410 and Rs 450 per equity share for an initial public offering of equity share of Rs 10 each for cash at a price to be decided through 100 per cent book-building process, he said.
The construction firm proposes to use Rs 500 lakh of the proceeds raised from the IPO for investment into forming joint ventures and for projects which have not yet been awarded to the company, Patnaik said.
We expect to generate profits by execution of projects as a result of such investments and work orders that would be receive through the credential of joint venture partners, Patnaik added.
ARSS Infrastructure Project is engaged in construction of roads, highways, bridges, irrigation projects etc.


CITU-affiliated Trade unions threaten strike in RSP
Rourkela: CITU-affiliated Steel Employees Trade Union and Rourkela Contractor workers union Saturday threatened to call a two-day total strike in Rourkela Steel Plant (RSP) on Feb 19 and 20.
The trade unions have threatened to call the strike demanding an immediate wage settlement of over 1 lakh regular and 75,000 contract workers of Steel Authority of India (SAIL).
CITU general secretary Bishnu Mohanty said that the workers would go on the two-day strike if SAIL management failed to meet their demands for 28 percent Minimum Guaranted Benefit (MGB), 3 and 3.5 percent increment and 46 percent fringe benefits to the workers at par with SAIL executives.
Meanwhile, INTUC led Rourkela Shramik Sangh has also threatened to call a strike after February 18 demanding wage revision.


Workshop on biomedical waste management held
Lanjigarh: The need of segregating biomedical waste (BMW) from general hospital waste and its careful disposal was stressed by Chief Operating Officer of Vedanta Aluminium Ltd (VAL) Mukesh Kumar here on Friday.
Addressing the inaugural session of a Union Ministry of Environment and Forests-sponsored training and workshop on BMW management, he said it is very important to sensitize all sections of the society about biomedical waste and its proper disposal.
The two-day training and workshop was organised by MDC on SHE in association with the Kalahandi district administration and VAL.
Kalahandi Collector RS Gopalan, who inaugurated the programme, laid emphasis on cleaning of hospital surroundings to prevent further spread of diseases.
Principal Adviser, St John Medical College, Bangalore; T Venkatesh said proper disposal of medical waste is not only the responsibility of the health institutions but also of the general public equally.
Kalahandi CDMO S Rath and convener, State Level Task Force on BMW Management, SCB Medical College & Hospital, Cuttack, were also present.
Professors from St John Medical College and SCB Medical College, senior functionaries from the State Pollution Control Board, academicians and others presented technical papers on BMW management.
More than 70 doctors, paramedical staff connected with BMW management of industrial, private and government hospitals, officials of Urban Local Bodies and government officials dealing on the subject of Kalahandi and Nuapada districts attended the programme.


Bank staffs cease work
Rairangpur: Protesting against the alleged dilly-dallying of the bank management and demanding immediate implementation of the Sixth Pay Commission, aggrieved staff of the Rairangpur branch of the Baripada Urban Cooperative Bank resorted to cease-work agitation on Friday.
Despite being a profit-making bank and with a glorious past of having been rewarded at the State level, the management has not yet kept its word though it had already been resolved to effect it since January 2009, the agitating staff rued, lamenting that their counterparts elsewhere have already been reaping the benefits.
It may be mentioned that there are four branches of the Baripada Urban Cooperative Bank at Baripada, Rairangpur, Karanjia and Udala in Mayurbhanj district.




New India to help BPL families
Berhampur: CMD of New India Assurance Co Ltd M Ramadoss is hopeful to cover all the 12 lakh Below Poverty Line (BPL) families under the ambitious Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana (RSBY), which aims at providing poor families with a freedom of choosing desired healthcare service from a list of public and private hospitals.
Ramadoss told reporters here on Thursday that in the first phase 1.75 lakh BPL families in Jharsuguda, Deogarh, Kalahandi, Puri, Nayagarh and Nuapada districts would be covered.
Six other districts, Ganjam, Sambalpur, Sundargarh, Khurda, Rayagada and Cuttack, would be included in the second phase. BPL families are entitled to more than 700 in-patient medical procedures with a cost of up to Rs 30,000 per annum for a nominal registration fee of Rs 30.
Pre-existing medical conditions are covered and there is no age limit.
Coverage extends to the head of household, spouse and up to three dependents. Transportation cost of Rs 100 per visit with an overall limit of Rs 1,000 per annum is also admissible under the scheme, he said.


Nalco suffers no production loss despite fire
Angul: Aluminium major Nalco on Friday said its overall production had not been affected by the fire broke out at its smelter last night, an official release said.
Stating that one of the four ICMs (Ingot Casting Machines) at Cast House - B, caught fire while maintenance and cleaning operations was on, the company said the repair work was under progress and the ICM would be restored shortly.
To restore the ICM, heat input was required, it said while explaining that the fire originated at the smelter.
Due to gas pipe leakage, it suddenly caught fire at about 9.50 PM last night.
Although the fire could be doused within an half an hour, a part of the overhead power cables were damaged, it said.
The repair work is under progress.
Investigation into the incident was on.


Tatwa Technologies holds annual day
Bhubaneswar:  Tatwa Technologies Ltd held its 8th Annual Meet here on Thursday. State IT commissioner PK Mahapatra asked the company to expand its network in the state and outside it.
He observed that the company under the stewardship of its CEO Ayashkanta Mohanty has made giant leaps over seven years since its inception in 2002.
Special Relief Commissioner NK Sundaray while exhorting the company to expand its business in Kolkata, Chennai, Mumbai, Delhi and overseas, asked it to concentrate on Odisha.
He noted that a company starting with a single computer and five employees has now 1,000 personnel.
He said that the state government has initially given one acre of land to the company at the Infocity and the construction of the building would be completed by June, further facilitating the company’s activities.
CEO Mohanty and director Tapendra Senapati said that the company would recruit 10,000 employees in the next five years and 30 per cent of the jobs would be reserved for the physically-handicapped.


Development of Plastic Park at Balasore urged
Balasore: CII North Odisha chapter (Balasore) in association with IDCO organized a meeting on the proposed plastic park on the eve of its annual meeting.
The discussion on the topic, ‘Development of Plastic Park: Stakeholders’ was attended by members of CII and plastic processors from West Bengal and Odisha.
The speakers in the meeting besides observing that Balasore is fortunate to have this kind of rare opportunity also highlighted its multi-dimensional advantages when Balasore has already registered itself in the industrial map of India as a plastic hub of the State having 42 plastic companies with a combined turnover of more than Rs 200 crore.
As plastic has become an integral part of everyday life, the Union Ministry of Industry and Commerce has approved the park which would house at least 100 companies. Existing industries can shift their units to the park and new units can also be set up. The park will promote development and growth of the plastic industry, the speakers stressed and invited stakeholders expressing their vision on the Plastic Park at Balasore.
The park besides serving as a bank and common raw materials depot will also facilitate the unit by providing testing centre and common tool room for maintenance along with an effective marketing system within the park.
Chief guest DIG of Police, Eastern Range, Yashwant Jethwa while observing that the Ultras’ movement is threatening the prospect of rapid industrialization, also opined that discussions at various levels including private companies can resolve the crisis.
Vice Chairman, CII, Odisha RK Jena stressed on the need for support to ancillary units by large industries in a developing place like Balasore which is going to witness rapid industrialisation in the coming years.
Chairman, CII, Odisha State Council, SS Nandurdikar delivered the theme address.
Among others, former chairman, CII, North Odisha, Amit Behera, additional director, Directorate of Industries JK Satpathy, senior technical officer of CIPET, Dr SK Jain and Manas Mahanti of IDCO also spoke at the meeting presided over by chairman of the North Zone Council, MBS Nair.


Govt urged to resume mining
Bhubaneswar: The Keonjhar Mines and Forest Workers Union on Wednesday submitted a memorandum to the steel and mines minister Raghunath Mohanty to open the mines. Alleging that the closure of several mines has halted the mining operations, the workers said that the business of iron ore mining has generated huge amount of revenues for the state exchequer since ages and has also provided employment and livelihood for thousands of daily wage earners.
However, the closure of several mines has directly affected the wage earners.
This decision of the state government will not serve the interest of the workers and the people of Odisha, the memorandum pointed out.
Mostly the daily wage earners in majority are tribals and backward classes.



Allahabad Bank’s chief opens its 1st CRRB in State
Bhubaneswar:Chairman and Managing Director of Allahabad Bank JP Dua inaugurated the bank’s first Centralized Retail Banking Boutique (CRRB) in here on Monday.
It is a dedicated delivery channel that centralizes various processes from mobilization to disbursement of retail loans under one roof for the convenience of the retail customers.
This is one of the twenty six CRRBs that the bank has planned to open in important centres throughout the country.
Briefing newsmen here, Dua, being accompanied by the Field General Manager BK Chawla and the Deputy General Manager of Odisha circle Sunil Mehta, pointed out that though the bank has a branch network of just 67 in the state covering only 19 of its districts the its credit to deposit ratio here is almost at par with the bank’s national average.
This is something that many larger banks with much stronger branch network have not been able to match.
Rs 1000 crore of credits have been to the priority sector with agriculture sector cornering 670 crores out of the gross credit of 1400 crore of rupees.
Replying to a question, Dua said that the bank is planning to expand its branch network in the state to cover all districts very soon.
The bank plans to do a business of Rs 175,000 crore by March 2010 and swiftly bring more and more branches into the Core Banking Solutions (CBS) platform.


Prayag Group keen to set up film city
Bhubaneswar The Prayag Group has expressed its keenness to set up a film city in Odisha.
Besides, the company would invest in fisheries, nurseries and sapling centre, said the chairman of the group Basudev Baghchi.
Speaking at workshop here on Tuesday, he said that the Group would invest in different sectors in the state if the state government provides support to it.
He informed that a nursery will be set up in an area of 100 acres.
Among others, Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation Mayor Ananta Naryan Jena, Prayag’s coordinator Saroj S Kundu, corporator Padmanabh Das, actor Ashrumochan Mohanty and the group’s Odisha head Dulal Kumar Vej were present on the occasion.


LAVA Mobile launches new handsets
Bhubaneswar: LAVA International on Tuesday launched its new range of mobile handsets, including ARC 02 and KKT 25, in Cuttack.
Speaking on the occasion, LAVA Regional Manager Arvind Tiwari said that the vision of the company is to empower people with affordable, high-quality, innovative handsets, catering specifically to their different needs.
Odisha is one of the key markets in our national plans. Our reach will not be limited to Cuttack, Rourkela and Puri, but our plans are to provide mobile phones at the doorsteps of the people of entire state, he added.


Electricity employees threaten stir
Bhubaneswar: The Odisha Rajya Bidyut Parisad Amla Sangh has threatened to take to the streets if their 25 point charters of demands are not fulfilled.
In a release here on Tuesday, Sangh’s general secretary Upendranath Mishra and president Kailash Chandra Mishra said that the Sangh’s employees are known to be the employees of CESU.
Even though they are working for a long time till now no interest has been shown to solve problems.
They had submitted a memorandum to the CESU authorities on their demands on March 5, 2008 and later a charter of demands was again submitted.
But no decision has been taken yet, said Sangh’s working president Bhagirathi Gumansingh, Debraj Nayak and Mahendra Kumar Nayak.


Essel CSR stall at tribal fair draws huge crowd
Bhubaneswar:  Essel Mining and Industries Ltd of the Aditya Birla Group, which is operating in Sundargarh and Keonjhar districts, has redeemed its CSR pledges.
Its various developmental activities have been exhibited at the Adivasi Mela here. The company's CSR activities aimed at improving the life of the local tribals.
Encouraged by the company, tribal women self-help groups have created many crafts including varieties of paper-mache, terracotta items, baskets and flower vases containing tribal motifs.
The creative energy of the tribals in the mining area is deeply engraved in these items. The delineation of the sun and the flora and the fauna, depict artistically in these items, offers a ready market to the visitors at the Mela. Essel tapped the aboriginal tribes and moulded them in education camps so as to enable the tribal women to excel in handicraft activities.
The fixtures of photographs hanging on the beautifully embellished walls of the Essel Mines stall reveal the manifold activities on education, health for all, women SHGs, women empowerment, sustainable livelihood and nourishing nature which immediately draw the attention of visitors.
The company's educational activities include counselling parents, offering scholarship up to Class X and promoting technical training to tribal youth.
A young tribal artist under the patronage of the company gifted a rare painting of legendary late Biju Patnaik to his son chief minister Naveen Patnaik when he visited the company's stall.
In the health sector, the company has organized eye, pediatric, malaria detection and other camps every year.
It has also adopted Gurubeda village of Joda, Kasia of Barbil and Koira of Sundargarh to transform them into model villages.
The hangings on the wall also suggest that the company has undertaken measures to provide employment for sustainable means of livelihood of the local tribal youth.
The stall attracts tourists from home and abroad.


Dumper drivers, helpers brace for stir
Paradip: Drivers and helpers of the Intra-port transporters' (IPT) dumpers working at the Paradip Port for loading and unloading of cargoes, who are members of the CITU-affiliated Paradip Industrial Workers' Union, are preparing to call a strike for fulfillment of their demands by the dumper owners.
Though the union has represented to the Paradip Port Trust, the Stevedores' Association and the dumper owners on the demands, there is no response from any authority, including the Central Labour Office.
This has prompted the union to go on strike as the last resort.
The union alleges that the PPT, stevedores and dumper owners are not providing the basic requirements of minimum salary, national holidays, bonus, identity cards, overtime allowance, medical benefit, rest-shed, drinking water, safety shoes, masks, uniforms and workman compensation to the drivers and helper as per the labour laws.
Because of the spiraling of prices, the union demands a minimum monthly salary of Rs 10,000 to a driver and Rs 5,000 to a helper.
The union is planning to serve notice on the management for the strike under the Industrial Disputes Act 1947.
It called its members to participate in a secret ballot on January 31 for a strike call.
Of the total 1,222 members, 1,208 voted in favour of strike.
Such a secret vote before calling a strike is the first at Paradip.
If it materializes, the cargo loading and unloading operations may be seriously affected.

BBCB staffs threaten stir
Balasore: Protesting the inordinate delay and further refusal to concede demand for their pension by the state government, the employees of Balasore Bhadrak Central Cooperative Bank (BBCB) have threatened to launch an agitation.
In a press briefing here, the aggrieved employees said that all sections of employees working in financial institutions in the public sector banks as well as other categories of banks get pension, they have been denied the same depriving them of social security.
As a result, several retired personnel are now suffering from untold miseries, they further alleged.
Besides demanding ex-gratia pension of Rs 2,500, they further demanded introduction of an alternative pension scheme for the serving employees by creation of a separate pension corpus for the purpose.
The pension corpus will have the contribution from the employees by way of employers' contribution towards EPF at 12 per cent of their basic pay and DA every month.
The employees of the cooperative banks in the state have contributed a lot for the purpose of green revolution and serving the cause of small and marginal farmers, they maintained.
Among others president of the union, Nabin Patra, Basanta Mallick, Kalinga Mohapatra and Sapan Roy were present in the meeting.


Andhra Bank targets Rs 130,000 crore business
Bhubaneswar:  With its 106 branches making it the third largest branch network in Odisha, Andhra Bank has posted another round of excellent performance in the third quarter of the current fiscal.
It has recorded a growth of 23 per cent in overall business, of 14.73 per cent in income, Rs 806 crore in profit amounting 78 percent in terms and healthy growth in most other parameters.
The bank is set to achieve a target of Rs 130,000 crore of business by March this year.
Briefing newsmen here on Sunday, bank’s Executive Director AA Taj, in the presence of General Manager VSR Gopal and Deputy General Manager BL Gupta, said that the bank is now committed to releasing more credit in the States where it generates its deposits reflected in the advances in the state being Rs 1,556 crore and sanctioned loans of another Rs 600 crore against a deposit of Rs 2,713 crore.
The exposure of the Bhubaneswar zone to the SME sector is Rs 140 crore.
Gold loans and housing loans have provided big boost in its business in the retail sector. He said that while the bank focuses on retail customers, Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises (MSME) and agro segments for growth it is also increasingly getting as its clients big corporate groups like Dhamra Port, Jindal and Bhusan.
Taj pointed out that Andhra Bank’s commitment to the State is exemplified by the state having the largest branch network outside Andhra Pradesh and the business in Chhattishgarh being controlled by the Bhubaneswar Zone.
The Berhampur-headquartered Rushikulya Gramya Bank is sponsored by Andhra Bank. It has one training institute called Andhra Bank Institute for Rural Development (ABIRD) operational in Ganjam and the next one is planned in Gajapati.
The ABIRD provides vocational training to the unemployed youth, farmers and women self help groups with free food and hostel facilities for women.
Taj also mentioned the foray of the bank into insurance business with the soft launch in January 2010 of the Indiafirst Insurance Co Ltd which is a joint venture with Bank of Baroda and Legal and General (UK).
Prior to this the bank was offering the insurance products of other banks.


Jindal reviews JSPL work
Angul: Executive vice chairman and Managing Director of Jindal Steel and Power (JSPL) Naveen Jindal visited Angul and reviewed the work of the company's largest integrated steel plant and power plant projects under construction here.
Addressing a meeting, Jindal praised the efforts of all employees for the successful implementation of the project.
JSPL is establishing a 12.5-million-tonne steel plant, a 4,000-MW power plant and a CTL plant at Angul with the cooperation of the people.
Among others, vice chairman of power plant RP Singh, director of steel plant John Almore, Director of coal gasification and coal liquid plant Jesper Marius and JSPL ED Rajesh Jha also spoke.


Labour unions protest corrupt administration
Paradip: The Paradip Port Shramik Sangha, along with the Goa Carbon Shramik Sangha and Iffco Shramik Sangha, has called for protests and agitations against the corrupt government and administration at Paradip.
The long-term agitation started with a huge rally on January 29 starting from the Union's office going round the port city and culminating in a meeting at Badapadia Market complex.
The Union leaders demanded the reduction of painful price rise due to corrupt government, action against exploitation of labour in the name of contract labour, torturing of labourers of management committee by the clearing and forwarding agents in the name of replacement labour at Paradip and delaying in acceptance of casual labourers as Paradip Port workers and giving them pension accordingly.
They also raised voice against government's atrocity by undemocratically arresting the leaders who are spearheading democratic movements against poverty, unemployment and oppression of workers.
The leaders expressed the system of substitute workers who are about 1,100 in number and working for the last 10 years in Paradip.
They are known as Akali group and are involved in cargo loading and unloading operations inside the prohibited area of Paradip Port under the very nose of PPT management and CISF.
Each Akali labourer gets Rs 200 per duty when the original labourer gets Rs 300 per duty by simply sitting in his port quarters or own house built from his handsome earnings.
The leaders demanded to stop such corrupt system immediately and regularise the job of workers who are really working in the port.
Noted Leftist leader Mayadhar Nayak presided over the protest meeting.
Vice president of the union and noted social worker advocate Basudev blamed both the Centre and the state governments and called to free society and youth population from intoxicants.
He said that after 60 years of independence, several companies have spread all over the country.
The corrupt officials, politicians and law enforcement authorities have closed their rank and file with these companies to ruin the country and its people, he charged.
To hide its weaknesses, the state government arrested democratic leaders like Mili Panda and Gananath Patra but the Maoist menace has now spread its tentacles in as many as 18 districts of Odisha.
The inefficient government has now requested Central help to curb the menace.
The leaders have threatened that if the Centre tries to suppress the Maoist agitation by force, there may be mayhem not only in the state but also in the whole country. Thousands of workers and residents of Paradip participated in the protest meeting and rally.

Stress on for affordable housing
Bhubaneswar: Urban development secretary Arun Kumar Panda on Saturday said that there is gross shortage of affordable housing for the majority of the population in the state.
Inaugurating the regional office (East) and Odisha chapter of National Real Estate Development Council (NAREDCO) here, Panda said that there is a need for new ideas and mechanisms to solve the problem.
He reiterated that there is a need for affordable housing for the not so well-off and economically weaker sections of society instead of only HIG and deluxe houses which are bought by NRIs and the upper class families.
He informed that officials like section officers are not able to afford a house in the city even after retirement.
With large volumes and less margins the affordable housing schemes can be a profitable venture for the real estate developers and a win-win situation for all stake holders, said Panda.
He informed that the state government mulling a Slum Rehabilitation Policy to rehabilitate the slum dwellers.
Present on the occasion, vice chairman of Bhubaneswar Development Authority DK Singh said that there is an immediate need for 40,000 dwelling units in the twin cities.
He urged the builders to welcome the competition with open arms and brace up to compete with the best.
He hoped that opening of NAREDCO office will be an epoch making event.
He informed that 1,700 acres of prime land has been occupied by the slum dwellers in the city.
Vice chairman Cuttack Development Authority and Commissioner Cuttack Municipal Corporation RN Nanda hoped that NAREDCO would be able to rein in the dubious builders who are cheating the people of their hard earned money.
BMC Commissioner Gadadhar Parida said the city will be made slum free.
Among others, NAREDCO president Rohtas Goel, VP (East) NAREDCO Anup Mohapatra also spoke.


MSP of milk at Rs 20 per litre demanded
Bhubaneswar: The Odisha Milk and Paddy Farmers Association has demanded a minimum support price (MSP) of Rs 20 per litre of milk and MSP of Rs 1,500 per quintal of paddy.
Submitting a memorandum to the governor here on Saturday, the Association said that it costs Rs 25.44 to produce a litre of milk.
The animal feeds costs Rs 14 to Rs 18 per kg and a cow consumes five kg of feeds every day that costs Rs 90.
Similarly, insurance and medicine costs are Rs 2,000 per annum.
It also said that Tamil Nadu is giving Rs 20 per litre of milk to the farmers as against the market price of Rs 23.
In Gujurat, it is Rs 22 and in Maharashtra it is Rs 24.
While after a hike in milk a farmer in Odisha will get maximum of Rs 15, while a bottle of Kinley drinking water costs Rs 15.
Similarly, a farmer has to spend Rs 1,125 per quintal of paddy while he sells it at Rs 900. However, at many places there is distress sale of paddy for which its cultivation is neither profitable nor attractive for the farmer, the memorandum pointed out.


PPT celebrates World Customs Day
Paradip: For the first time, the World Customs Day was celebrated at the Customs House here.
Commissioner of Customs M Suresh graced the occasion as the chief guest while deputy commissioner MA Ansari, and Paradip Port Trust trustee and president of Kalinga Steamship Agents’ Association Dr Rabi Das were the guests of honour.
Suresh said port users, including importers and exporters are always to be helped by the central excise and customs department, but the defaulters of taxes and other dues would not be spared from appropriate action.
The port users and representatives of commercial organizations who participated in the function highlighted their various problems faced at the Customs House and urged for remedial measures.
The port users, importers and exporters expressed their gratitude to the commissioner and deputy commissioner for their presence.

 

Vedanta CEO gets global honour
Bhubaneswar:  CEO of Vedanta Aluminium Ltd (VAL) M Siddiqi has been selected as one of the most Influential People in Business Ethics of 2009 by Ethisphere.
Significantly, he is the only Indian listed among the top hundred most influential people. Other important names like US President Barack Obama and founder of Microsoft Bill Gates figure in the list.
Siddiqi has been nominated in the Business Leadership category for his outstanding visionary initiatives for the people of Odisha where VAL has set up its mining and smelter projects.
So far, Vedanta has the single-largest investment by any corporate house in the state.
The recognition has been made by Ethisphere, a leading international think-tank dedicated to the creation, advancement and sharing of best practices in business ethics, corporate social responsibility, anti-corruption and sustainability, based in New York.
Siddiqi Dedicating the recognition to the people of Odisha, Siddiqi said that the company is sincerely working for the development of the people at our plant sites both at Jharsuguda and Lanjigarh.


Virgin Mobiles launches GSM services
Bhubaneswar: Virgin Mobile on Thursday announced the launch of its GSM services in Odisha.
The company has entered the GSM market with the definite objective of helping youth leverage and use the power of their network of friends.
Announcing the GSM launching, CEO MA Madhusudan said that for now, consumers across Odisha will be offered a differentiated tariff of 20 paise per minute for STD and local calls to any Virgin Mobile number without any pack.
Virgin Mobile customers calling any other network will be charged at 40 paise per minute for local and 50 paise per minute for STD calls again without any packs.
With the launch of our services, we intend to stir the GSM space with another ten firsts. As the only mobile service brand designed for youth, we aim to provide them the most innovative and differentiated offerings with the experience of a world class network, he added.


Naredco to open regional office
Bhubaneswar: The National Real Estate Development Council (NAREDCO) of the ministry of housing and urban poverty alleviation will open its Regional Office (East) and launch the Odisha Chapter of the Council in the city here on Saturday.
It would be the fifth regional office in the country after Mumbai, Hyderabad, Jaipur and Delhi.
As the nodal agency for housing and real estate sector in India, Naredco’s activities range from legislative, legal and regulation issues to commercial ones.
The Bhubaneswar regional office would benefit all stakeholders of the sector from buyers, financial institutions, banks, government, realtors, etc, operating in the Eastern and north-eastern states.
It would have jurisdictional control over Odisha,


Vedanta launches PRAYAS to strengthen education
Jharsuguda: As part of its corporate social responsibility (CSR), Vedanta Aluminium Ltd (VAL) launched a unique programme, PRAYAS, for imparting quality education and improving competency level of primary level students in peripheral villages here.
The scheme will be implemented by NGO Pratham India in the six peripheral villages, wherein an integrated approach will be followed to bring the child into school and supplementary reading-writing materials will be provided to encourage self learning process and create interest for education among them.
It also seeks to provide training to the existing teachers on the unique module and supplement with additional trained teaching staff as required.
During the launch of the programme, among others, Jharsuguda collector Dhananjay Das.
VAL ED Pankaj Khanna, AVP Human Resource Lalitendu Samant, Head CSR Sanjeev Patnaik and Odisha representative of Pratham Sraban Bag and many teachers and students from peripheral villages were present.
Speaking on the occasion, Khanna said that VAL is committed to facilitate the growth of Human Development Index of Jharsuguda.
In its endeavour to achieve the same the entire CSR is focused into health, education, livelihood, environment, sports and culture of the society.
The programme will create an open and interesting atmosphere meeting their needs and help facilitate the child to cope with the new learning environment.
The company aims at implementing the project at its core peripheral villages initially and the success of this pilot project will further the implementation to a broader area, he said, adding that the programme would reduce the dropout rate and strengthen the students’ urge for education.
Appreciating the initiative of VAL, the district collector said that the company is doing commendable work in its peripheral areas.


Tension at IOCL refinery site
Paradip: Palpable tension continued to prevail at the Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL) refinery’s project site at Trilochanpur under Paradip police station limits following a clash between two trade unions on Sunday in which 15 persons, including seven women, were injured.
Sources said there has been a rivalry between the two trade unions of the company, Eastern India Oil Refinery Shramik Sangh and Maa Baidehi Shramik Sangh, over engaging labourers in the construction work being undertaken by Dharti Dredging Company at the IOCL project site.
On January 23 when the labourers, who are members of the Eastern India Union were on way to the construction site, they were opposed at Trilochanpur village by the rival Maa Baidehi Union members.
It is reported that there was blank firing at the union members.
On Sunday morning the members of Eastern India Union tried to enter into the IOC site following which, they were attacked by the members of the rival group.
The members of the rival union also ransacked the office of Eastern Indian Union.
All the injured were admitted to Paradip hospital and FIRs have been filed by both the groups.
One platoon of police force was deployed as a precaution and to avert further clashes.
Some of the local business men and contractors of Paradip are trying to slow down the construction work of IOCL refinery here in the name of trade unions and deploying their goons to terrorise the workers in the oil refinery.
The union office and properties were ransacked by the miscreants, alleged the president of Eastern India Oil Refinery Shramik Sangha, Santosh Kumar Patnaik.
Meanwhile, the police has called for a meeting between two unions on January 30 to for an amicable solution to the situation.


Union demands opening of NICCO plant
Baripada: The NICCO Industries Sramik Union has demanded that the factory authorities should immediately withdraw the illegal lock out of the unit, the suspension orders of the eight functionaries of the recognized union and payment of the salary for the period the unit was closed.
The union alleged that the factory authorities are using dilly dallying tactics for the last two months and holding meetings in the Sub-Collectors office.
They said that even though the sub-collector and the district labour officer have held five meetings the management is playing with the future of 200 employees.
The union on Wednesday also held a protest meeting before the Collectorate.
Among others, state working president of Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh Pratap Chandra Panda, president of NICCO Industries Sramik Union Prashanta Kumar Jena, secretary Rabi Narayan Mishra and many other leaders and workers were present.


Dalmia Cement to hike stake in Odisha Cement
Bhubaneswar:  Dalmia Cement Bharat, which reported a marginal drop in net profit for the quarter ended December at Rs 23 crore, today said it will invest about Rs 200 crore to hike stake in Odisha Cement to over 45 per cent.
The board has approved the proposed increase in stake in Odisha Cements to over 45 per cent from less than 22 per cent now, the company said in a statement.
Dalmia Cement, which is present in Southern parts of the country, wants to enhance its presence in the Eastern region through further acquisition of stake in OCL.
The acquisition of stake in OCL will be completed this week itself and at the current market price, the valuation could be around Rs 200 crore, a company official said, adding it would fund acquisition from internal accruals.
 

Construction for Kalinganagar project within months: Tata Steel MD
Bhubaneswar: Managing director of Tata Steel H M Nerurkar on Tuesday said that the construction work of the company's Kalinganagar project in Jajpur district will start within the next two months.
Construction work of the Tata Steel's six million integrated greenfield plant at Kalinganagar will begin in next two months, he told company workers while unfurling the tri-colour on the occasion of 61st Republic day function at its premises at Jamshedpur.
Nerurkar said that the company would start work for its Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand projects once it would acquire the required land.
Emphasizing the need for enhancing steel production in the country, he said that the demand for steel had increased by eight to ten per cent but production was far behind the demand.
Nerurkar said if the production was not increased, the country would have to import steel in large volume.
He expressed satisfaction over the progress of the company's ongoing 10 million tonne per annum expansion work. It would be completed by 2011.
He expressed hope that the Dhamra Port project in Odisha would be in operation between April to June.



Women SHGs demonstrate before Canara Bank
Jagatsinghpur: Even as the Centre and the state governments have laid emphasis on women empowerment and self-earnings though SHGs under different schemes in rural areas, the bank authorities have ignored the instructions of the state government.
As a consequence, after enduring repeated harassment from bank, about 900 women activists from as many as 170 SHGs working in Baisi Mouza area in Biridi block staged a demonstration in front of Canara Bank, Purana, on Friday.
Following the protest, bank services came to a halt for the entire day and bank authorities locked up the office fearing any untoward incident.
Later senior bank officials from Bhubaneswar reached the spot and held discussion with the agitating women and assured to take needful steps after which the agitation was called off.
Reports said that the women agitators submitted a nine-point charter of demands which includes timely giving of loans to SHGs, early collection of cheques, exemption commission on cheque collection, service to local pension holders seeking bank assistance, loan to small and medium-scale businessmen of the area, priority to agriculture loan, opening of ATM counter besides good behaviour from the bank staff.
The women activists alleged that the bank staff misbehaved during their visits to the bank for sanction of government-sponsored SHG bank loans and the bank imposes strict rules as a result of which many SHGs fail to get loans.
They cited the example of three SHGs in Baisi Mouza area which have come under the wrath of the bank staff.
However, bank authorities maintained that they provide loans liberally.
Anticipating untoward incidents, the bank officials locked the bank and remained inside for five long hours and contacted their higher-ups to intervene into the matter.
Following information, senior deputy general manager of Canara Bank’s Bhubaneswar branch arrived here and held discussion with the agitating women and assured to address their grievances at the earliest.
The agitation was called off on Friday evening after getting assurance from the bank authorities.


Meet stresses on hike in quality of coke making
Rourkela: With plans of massive increase in steel making capacity on the anvil, it becomes imperative to enhance the quality and quantity of coke making, said Managing Director, Rourkela Steel Plant (RSP) SN Singh while addressing the inaugural function of the 47th Metallurgists’ Day celebrations and National Seminar on Recent Developments in Coke Making and Coal Chemicals Recovery organised jointly by the Indian Institute of Metals, Rourkela Chapter and RSP at Gopabandhu Auditorium here.
It is to be mentioned that about 120 delegates from various SAIL units, major steel producers of the country like Tata Steel, RINL, NINL, JSW, Essar as well as international agencies like Paulwurth, Germany and BHP, Billiton, Australia participated in the two days long programme.
Elaborating on the topic, Singh said that because of the scarcity of high quality indigenous coal, SAIL has to import about 70 per cent of its coal requirement.
While China has imported latest technologies of coke making from European countries, I am confident that Indian scientists and technologists will develop technologies of their own to suit the Indian setting, he said.
Singh also emphasised on creating an ambience that is safe for the employees and conducive for the environment.
Chief (Coke, Sinter and Iron), Tata Steel DP Deshpande in his address delved deep into the recent advances in coke making and the need of improvement in various areas.
He focused on issues like higher coke throughput, shorter coking time, larger coke ovens, higher productivity, higher coke quality and more battery automation.
He exhorted the coke making fraternity to innovate new ways to meet the varying expectations of various stakeholders.



VAL clearance: Union minister’s envoy arrives at Lanjigarh
Bhawanipatna: A member of the Central team visited the Niyamgiri hill of Lanjigarh on Friday at the instruction of Union minister of environment and forest Jairam Ramesh to submit a report whether there was any violation of rules and regulation by the Vedanta Alumina Limited (VAL).
The company is now anxiously waiting for the last and final phase of clearance to start its mining exploration work.
The Union minister had personally sent Binod Rishi, a former Additional Director of General (ADG) of Wildlife, who arrived at Lanjigarh on Friday morning to take the stock of the situation.
Rishi was accompanied by deputy conservator of forest RK Biswal, Odisha Mining Corporation DGM NC Sahu, V. Nagraj Reddy and CCF Koraput V Ramarao Reddy, Head of Environment Vedanta J Soni, Vedanta CEO Pramod Suri, Mr. Bakhala Chief Conservator of Forest Bakhala and chief conservator of forest (Nodal) V Raja and CCF JK Tiwari.
After visiting Niyamgiri hill by road from Kadamguda Chowk to top of the hill, which is around seven km from the main road, Rishi had come back from Lanjigarh and stayed at Circuit House here.
Kalahandi collector R Santhgopalan had also discussed with him.
Kalahandi MP Bhakta Charan Das did not forget to appraise Rishi personally and discussed many things about the guidelines.
Meanwhile, Rishi denied commenting when reporters wanted to know from him what exactly he found during his visit.
I would submit my report to the Centre, he added.


AITUC national meet from Feb 5
Bhubaneswar:The All India Trade Union Congress on Saturday said that there is a need to frame a strategy to combat spiraling prices, flouting of labour laws, the increasing implementation of contract system, disinvestment in public sector undertakings and the anti-people policies of the Central government.
Stating that there is widespread resentment among the workers community, the Union said that the trade unions will jointly raise their voice against this and decide the agitation mode at the all-India general body meeting of the All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC) meeting at Bhaja Kala Mandap here from February 5.
All the trade unions will participate in the three-day event.
The Union will deliberate on the present crisis in the country and how to safeguard the interests of the workers community.
A public meeting will also be held at the PMG Square on February 5.
Central leaders like AB Bardhan, Pramod Gogoi, Gurudas Dasgupta, Amarjit Kar and many other leaders are expected to participate, said the organisation president, DK Panda, in a release.


Union demands CBI probe into Nesco irregularities
Balasore: The Nesco Shakti Karmachari Sangha (NSKS), besides alleging large-scale irregularities against the management, has demanded a CBI probe into the issue.
The scam has been taking place in different forms in purchase of materials, giving power supply, awarding contracts and outsourcing work for metre replacement and metre reading, billing and drawing allowances.
This has incurred huge loss to the distribution company.
The proportion of this scam is even more than the mining scam. Hence we demand a CBI probe into the case, said the general secretary of NSKS, Niranjan Padhiari told reporters here.
He also alleged that company was giving fresh power connections to industries at Joda and Badbil in Keonjhar district for vested interests and informed further that one iron-crushing unit has been given fresh connection recently ignoring the guidelines.
The company is forcing consumers to change the metres on different occasions for vested interests, he further alleged, adding that contracts have been given to companies located outside the state also.
Ever since the new CEO has taken over the charge, the aggregate transmission and commercial loss is around 70 per cent, while the high tension and extra high tension (HT and EHT) and low tension (LT) arrears are Rs 100 crore and Rs 712 crore respectively, the collection is only 60 percent, he alleged.
Padhiari also alleged that the outsourced companies are not paying due salaries to the workers.
Neither their salary is hiked nor are they provided with safety equipments. Though Reliance is a huge company, it may not be aware of what this distribution company is doing here, he pointed out.
He said that the company management continues to dilly dally with regard to the contractual workers’ demand to execute the agreement which was done in the presence of the district collector, labour commissioner and elected representatives at a meeting with labour minister in 2007.
Since the last five months, the contractual workers have been sitting in dharna in front of the corporate office but neither the district administration nor the Nesco management has cared to address their grievances, he lamented.
Among others, president of the union Ramakanta Panda, Sk Zameer, Pranab Kar and Manas Das were present at the meeting.


Posco to get power from OPTCL
Bhubaneswar: After receiving a clear nod from the Centre with the Stage-II forest clearance, Posco-India has initiated various activities, including infrastructure development to make its steel project near Paradip a reality.
As a part of this process, Posco on Wednesday signed an agreement with the OPTCL (Odisha Power Transmission Company Ltd) to receive 24 MW of electricity from the OPTCL.
This bilateral agreement, supposed to have been signed with the OPTCL in 2007, was delayed because of the delays that the project has faced.
The power will be utilized by Posco for its construction activities at the plant site.
After making a detailed design and getting approval from the OPTCL, Posco will commence the tower construction work to draw this power from end of this year for its 12-MTPA plant.
The power supply will be operational from March 2012, according to a company release.


Odisha second favourite domestic investment destination: Survey
Bhubaneswar:Undeterred by the global economic slowdown, the domestic investment announcements of India Inc registered a growth of 16 per cent during calendar year 2009 over 2008, with Gujarat, Odisha and Andhra Pradesh emerging as the frontrunners, according to an analysis of ASSOCHAM Investment Meter (AIM) Study on Corporate Investments.
As per the annual AIM assessment report for corporate investments across States and sectors, the total investment plans of India Inc increased significantly from Rs 13,80,099 crore in 2008 to Rs 15,94,203 crore in 2009; out of which Gujarat, Odisha and Andhra Pradesh carved out a majority share of 15.4 per cent, 12.6 per cent and 8.1 per cent respectively.
The intensity of corporate investment activity during the period of economic downturn has proved the relative resilience of Indian economy.
The robustness in corporate investment activity on the Indian soil shows how competently the economy has managed to weather the storm of unprecedented global financial crisis, said ASSOCHAM Secretary General DS Rawat
Gujarat witnessed Rs 245,352 crore worth of investment plans.
Helped by the investor-friendly policies of the state government which led to a smooth relocation of the Tata Nano project, the state attracted the majority of investment plans in the real estate, power and infrastructure sectors.
Odisha stood second with the recorded investment proposals worth Rs 2,00,846 crore. The availability of rich mineral resources such as coal and iron ore along with cheap availability of manpower attracted massive investments in the steel and power were among the sectors which attracted maximum investments in steel and power sectors.
The successful commencement of gas production from the D6 block of the KG basin, helped Andhra Pradesh rank among the top three states in attracting corporate investors. The state recorded investment plans to the tune of Rs 129,157 crore.
Energy and the real estate were among the major sectors that attracted maximum investments.


New OSSIA president
Cuttack: Industrialist Nishikant Mishra was elected president of the Odisha Small Scale Industries Association (OSSIA) unanimously here on Wednesday.
Earlier, Mishra had worked as the secretary of the Association for five years.
Presently, he is the president of the Odisha Agriculatral Implements Manufacturers Association.
The other elected functionaries of the OSSIA are vice-president Deepak Kajaria, VP (Centre) Sanjay Mahapatra, VP (East Zone) Durgadatta Das, VP (West Zone) Akshay Kumar Mohanty, VP (South Zone) Girish Kumar Modi, VP (North Zone) Sudhir Kumar Das, secretary Ashwini Kumar Panda and joint secretary Sarat Kumar Parida.
Mishra urged all small scale industries associations and industrialists to come together to solve their common problems.


Paradip insurance staffs cease work
Paradip: To support their colleagues in the one-day All India Insurance Employees’ Union strike, all 23 employees of LIC Paradip branch ceased work on Thursday.
As a result, no transaction could take place in the office. President of the union’s Paradip branch Kishore Chandra Das, general secretary AK Sahoo and GIC's Ramchandra Soren led the strike.
The union is demanding withdrawal of the Insurance Bill-2008 and revision of wages which is overdue.


LIC employees stage dharna
Parlakhemundi: The employees of the Life Insurance Corporation of India on Thursday staged a dharna here.
The employees, led by Union president Pankaj Kumar Mandal, secretary Laxman Karji, AK Chaudhury, BN Patnaik demanded 40 percent hike in salary, salary at par with the industries, and regularization of temporary staffs.
They also voiced their opposition to privatization.

Traces of diamond deposits found in Odisha Orissa, Karnataka, AP
New Delhi: The country’s largest iron ore miner National Mineral Development Corporation (NMDC) and the world’s premier diamond producer, De Beers, have found traces of diamond deposits in Odisha, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka.
Surveys are also underway in these states to detect gold deposits, the government has said.
Explorations in these three states had resulted in discovery of 41 kiberlites and 13 lamproite pipes, which are indicative of possible diamond deposits underneath.
Kimberlite and lamproite are solidified volcanic magma and work as elevators to bring diamonds with other minerals to the earth’s surface.
So far, a total of 339 Reconnaissance Permits (RPs) have been issued covering 466,556 sq km, out of which aerial surveys have been conducted in 27 RPs, an official statement by the mines ministry said.
In Odisha, kimberlite and Lamproites were discovered in Kalahandi, Nabarangpur, Nuapada and Balangir districts.
The same was also discovered and in Kurnool, Prakasam and Anantapur districts in Andhra Pradesh.
Explorations by CRA Exploration India Pvt. Ltd in the state indicated discovery of several mineralized zones in Anantapur and Kurnool districts.
In Karnataka, these were discovered in Gulbarga district.
The ministry said that exploration permits had been given to several companies.


Tata Steel to train athlete
Bhubaneswar: As part of its endeavour to promote sports and make it a way of life for the people, Tata Steel has decided to provide intensive advance training of international standards to Sobha Nayak at Tata Athletic Academy (TAA) in Jamshedpur. Nayak from Sukinda locality of Jajpur district will be provided training free of cost at TAA for three months.
Other facilities that will be provided to her includes lodging and boarding at Tata Sports Hostel, medical facility at Tata Main Hospital and sports kit for her training free of cost besides bearing all travel expenses.
Sobha is the fourth such athlete from Odisha to be provided world-class training after Saraswati Chand, Dwiti Chand and Namita Kabat.
Tata Steel has been playing a key role in identifying rural sporting talent in Odisha through its Sports Feeder Centre at Duburi, wherein, till date, more than 300 boys and girls from the State are being given training in football and archery.
Recently, Tata Steel has also established the Dharani Dhar Sports Complex in Keonjhar.
Sobha has several achievements in athletics to her credit, including the 22 km run at Paradip Port Sports Council (2010), Biju Patnaik Mini Marathon (2007), Cuttack District Marathon (2006).


Sree Metaliks stops plant work
Angul: Close on the heels of the brutal assault on around 30 workers and destruction of plant office by a few miscreants, the management of Sree Metaliks on Wednesday suspended the plant work and served notices under disciplinary proceedings against five workers involved in the incident.
Since last Friday the plant operation has been stopped due to the sudden attack by a group of people on the plant officials resulting in seriously damages to the administrative building, weighbridge, rolling mill laboratory, control room and other important installations and equipments worth around Rs 1 crore.
The management has lodged an FIR with the police but no action has been taken as yet.
Due to complete stop of operation of the plant the company is losing crores of rupees everyday and about 700 persons employed directly and indirectly are sitting idle.
The police inaction and administrative callousness from time to time has led to production loss of many industries like Sree Metaliks in Angul district.
The Citizens’ Action Forum, in a letter to the chief minister and chief secretary, urged their intervention for better industrial environment in the district.


Big Bazaar’s ‘Sabse Saste 4 Din’ from Jan 23
Bhubaneswar: : Big Bazaar on Wednesday announced that its biggest shopping event. Sabse Saste 4 Din, would be held in its over 120 stores and other group stores across 70 cities from January 23 to 26.
Big Bazaar president Sadashiv Nayak said that the scheme has been a humungous success with consumers.
As the name suggests, Sabse Saste 4 Din will be the most economical four days of shopping and we look forward to it being yet another successful shopping bonanza, he added.

Zero infant mortality rate at Kalinganagar Tata Parivar
Kalinganagar: Thanks to the effort of the Tata Steel Parivar whose rehabilitated families of Kalinganagar in Jajpur district have recorded zero infant mortality rate (IMR) during the last five years.
This feat has not been achieved even by majority of the developed countries across the globe, said experts.
Tata Steel, which has been focusing on providing proper antenatal, natal, postnatal and newborn care and immunisation, has helped the families achieve this high standard, admit doctors.
In India, approximately 1.72 million children die before reaching their first birthday.
At present, the IMR is 69 per thousand births in Odisha in comparison to 53 in India.
Continuing its stress on the UN Global Compact vision and renewing its commitment to the initiative, Tata Steel is now stressing zero IMR in and around Kalinganagar.
Keeping this in mind, an intense effort is being made among the displaced families of its Kalinganagar project to avoid any death among the under-5 children.
Among the Tata Steel Parivars, it is important to note that among 92 child births last year only two children were delivered with low birth weight, that is, 2.5 kg.
One had a birth weight of 2.4 kg and the other 2 kg. No death was reported till date. Among more than 300 babies delivered in the last five years, only one death occurred due to congenital anomaly.
During the antenatal period, a minimum of three antenatal checkups are done by O&G specialists with additional one checkup during the last 15 days of EDD is ensured in most of the cases.
Two doses of TT, 100 tablets of IFA tablets and calcium tablets each are given. Hemoglobin levels, blood grouping and typing are done on a routine basis.
In case of detection of anemia, additional IFA tablets and nutritional advices are given.
In case of any anticipation of complication, ultra-sonography is carried out with the advice of O&G specialists.
As most of the displaced families belong to the tribal communities and their literacy levels are low, additional care is taken to remind them about their EDD (expected date of delivery) 15 days before the EDD to facilitate institutional delivery in time.
It is ensured that all the deliveries are institutional.
After the delivery at least two post natal checkups are conducted.
The mother is counselled about proper newborn care, and exclusive breastfeeding for six months is propagated.
A hundred-per cent immunisation coverage is done among the children, and growth monitoring is undertaken till the age of six years.
Early detection and treatment of respiratory illness, diarrhoeal diseases, etc, are done in the camps



Meet stresses on environment, mineral conservation
Bhubaneswar: Speakers on the concluding day of the 12th Mines Environment and Mineral Conservation (MEMC) Week, organized by the by the Eastern Zone Mining Association under the aegis of the Indian Bureau if Mines, here on Sunday, were unanimous in their opinion that modern technology, better management and collective action are essential for the mining industry to successfully combat the challenges facing it.
Controller General of IBM CS Gundeswar identified Research & Development as essential to find solution to the challenges of management and conservation in the mining industry.
State secretary of steel and mines Ashok Dalwai lauded the awareness that has been created in the mining industry on the critical issues of environment and conservation.
He said that the challenges are too big for any individual player to find answer and the players should act together to get the advantages of economics of scale, even for effective R&D.
He reminded the industry that a sustainable livelihood system of displaced persons needs urgent attention even from the environment point of view.
IBM Regional Controller S Tiu presented statistics to highlight the progress that individual mines have made in adopting technology for better management and observed that while mining is as much an industry as any other activity it is being conducted as a kind of treasure hunt.
The need of the hour is to make a systematic approach to this activity, he added.
The video presentation made by him was an eye-opener for all those who believed mining to be just dig-and-carry activity.
He also mentioned that the mining firms in the Odisha region have planted more than one crore saplings in the leased areas and over 25 lakh saplings have been planted over three sq km outside the mining areas with an average survival rate of 77 per cent.
The welcome address was delivered by EZMA president RL Mohanty while secretary of the organising committee Prabodh Mohanty offered the vote of thanks.


Meet stresses on safety of plant workers
Angul: Safety of workers at a plant generally depends on how much the chief of the plant cares for it. By prioritising safety at work place, an accident-free atmosphere can be created in the plant site, said director of the factories and boilers, Shantanu Mishra at a workshop on safety of construction project workers held at the campus of the Jindal Steel and Power Limited (JSPL) here.
In the welcome address, executive director of the JSPL Rajesh Jha said that the company is taking strict measures for the safety of workers.
Stringent actions are being taken in case of negligence in safety measures.
Assistant director and sub director of the factories and boilers KK Parija and Chandrakanta Dalai, respectively, along with Mishra supervised the safety measures taken by the company.
They were accompanied by vompany’s AVP Ashok Kumar, safety department chief Santosh Kumar Sahoo and senior manager Dillip Kumar Mohanty.


Villagers protest proposed power project
Balangir: People in the district started raising their voice against the proposed setting up a thermal power plant of the Sahara Group by holding rallies and demonstrations.
According to reports, several villagers of Ghantbaahali, Luthurbandh Pudapadar, Saagunmunda Mahada, Jamojore and others villages of Titlagarh block on Saturday took out a rally in the town, about 80 km away from here on against setting up the power plant in that area.
The Sahara Group is going to set up a 1,320-MW thermal power plant in between Ghantbahali and Lutherbandh and a total of six villages will be affected.
We are opposing the setting of this thermal power plant as fly ash of thermal power plant would pollute the air and water of this area. Moreover, it would also increase the temperature of this region further, said a social activist.
Titlagarh is known for the it extreme temperature and the temperature varies from 43 to 48degree Celsius and even 50 degree Celsius in summer .
With the establishment of the industry the temperature would also further go up, he claimed.
As this region is located in between Tel and Under river area, even in Att (upland) land people produce a lot of paddy, mung, horsegram (kolatha) and crops besides vegetables. Moreover, it is going to acquire 600acre of private lands.
This would deprive livelihood of several poor people
The possibility of getting employment of, locals in the factory would be very remote as there are hardly any technically qualified people in the area, said Sandh.
We are not against industrilastion. But we are opposing this industry in view of pollution and other effects. Those people who do not have land or are urban based are propagating this project. We are of the view that this plant should be shifted to other places where in the company official have surveyed, the social activist added.
A memorandum to this effect was submitted to district collector Aswasthy S, who was present in Titlagarh.

JSL to raise Rs 500 cr via rights or GDR issue
Bhubaneswar:Stainless steel major Jindal Stainless (JSL) is expected to come out with rights or GDR issue soon of Rs 300 to Rs 500 crore size,
company VC & MD Ratan Jindal said on Saturday.
We are going ahead with our plans and with the corporate debt restructuring (CDR) getting through, we are likely to hit markets with a rights or Global Depository Receipt (GDR) issue within a month or two,” Mr Jindal said.
The instrument for raising money to tune of Rs 300 to Rs 500 crore is still not decided, Jindal said, adding, the issue will not be through initial public offering.
Speaking about terms of CDR, Mr Jindal said that it basically door-to-door nine years. The CDR cell has given us moratorium of 2 to 3 years, and then in next six years we shall repay all the loans, Jindal said.
Majority of the loans shall be repaid back in rupees, while few shall be paid back in foreign currency, he added.
JSL had approached the


Global mini car Chevrolet Beat launched in Odisha
Bhubaneswar: The attention grabbing, smartly-styled and toughly-built Chevrolet Beat with several firsts-in-its-segment and may other superlatively-adorned features, was launched in Bhubaneswar in a colourful ceremony on Friday.

Presiding over the ceremony the president and managing director of GM India Karl Slym, accompanied by the director (sales) Sumit Sawhney and regional sales manager (east) Gagandeep Singh expressed the confidence that this thoroughbred from the GM stable in the mini car segment as the one whose challenge its competitors will find tough to beat.

The service network, which now covers Bhubaneswar, Cuttack and Sambalpur, is soon to expand to five more locations as well. The Beat has several features that make it one of the safest cars for its riders.

The three variants named 1.2, 1.2 LS and 1.2 LT have a on road price tag of Rs 370,472, Rs 392,356 and Rs 436,122, respectively, in Bhubaneswar.

Customers availing of the option pack that includes advantages like ABS, alloy wheels and dual air bags will have to pay Rs 479,887.


Oil firm begins probe into allegations on LPG connections
Bhubaneswar: In response to the allegations made by the customers under the leadership of former Deputy Speaker of Odisha Legislative Assembly Ram Chandra Panda, an oil company has begun probe into illegal LPG connections and depriving people of gas service after changing of the agencies.

Representatives of the oil company on Friday reached here and started inquiry into the matter.

S Basu, SK Rath and CS Bhaskar Rao of the oil company met Panda and some customers here in the city.

During the meeting, Panda along with the customers apprised that the concerned agencies provided LPG connections to people in care of addresses.

However, after changing of the agencies, the customers were being deprived of their right.

When the agencies have done the mischief, why the costumers should suffer, argued locals here.

Panda and the harassed customers also demanded that connections given in care of addresses should not be cancelled keeping in view the inconvenience of the costumers and they should be provided with LPG cylinders as usual.

Besides, supply of more LPG connections to the city was demanded and the representatives of the oil company assured people to appraise the matter to the company.


Punj Lloyd bags order worth Rs 947 cr in Odisha
Bhubaneswar: : Engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) conglomerate, the Punj Lloyd Group, on Tuesday announced that it has been mandated to execute partial balance of plant and civil work on a 2x350-MW thermal power project by Ind-Barath Energy (Utkal) Limited in Odisha.
The project, located near Sahajbahal village in Jharsuguda district, is valued at Rs 947 crore.
Director, Punj Lloyd Ltd, PK Gupta said that the company is proud to work on this prestigious order which will consolidate its position in the balance of plant EPC space.
The scope of work for this project includes execution of partial balance of plant, mechanical, electrical and C&I work, along with civil and structural work.
The order would be executed over the next two years, he added.


Admn admits encroachment by Rathi Steel
Sambalpur: The district administration has admitted that Rathi Steel Ltd has encroached both government and private land near Chipilima.
The company occupied land beyond allotment, informed a senior officer of the Revenue Department. A report as per the current demarcation would be submitted to the Human Rights Commission, he added.
It may be mentioned that Rathi Steel occupied lands of people of villages Potapali and Sikirdi.
It also occupied the nearby government lands.
As the villagers failed to get any response from the district administration despite frequent reminders, they approached the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) under whose direction the present demarcation has been completed.
It was confirmed during the demarcation that Rathi Steels unauthorisedly occupied lands of 11 families of the two villages, the revenue officer informed.
The total encroachment would be about 10 acres, he added.


MCL employees under threat
Burla: In a statement issued by the Coal Mines Officers’ Association of India, MCL Branch, has strongly condemned the physical assault against the officials and employees on a recurring basis and has expressed their apprehensions to work in such hostile environment.
The physical assault by the villagers of Talcher Coalfields on the employees have left them fearing for their safety and such an environment would be detrimental in meeting the nation’s energy requirement unless immediate action is not taken in this regard.
MCL is targeted to meet a quarter of the requirement for coal of the power sector and in such situations the already coal-starved power sector would further be affected as the Association has threatened to restore stoppage of work if a conducive and safe environment is not provided.
In this regard, CMD MCL SR Upadhyay has again appealed to the people of Talcher in particular and to all, to help the company in fulfilling the energy requirement of the nation by not restoring to blockades and bandhs and again reiterated his committed to resolve all issues in an amicable manner.

VAL takes up Pulse Polio campaign
Lanjigarh: Vedanta Aluminium Limited, Lanjigarh supported the district health administration of Kalahandi in the intensive pulse polio immunisation campaign and administered pulse polio drops to several infants in Lanjigarh area.
Chief operating officer of Vedanta Aluminium Limited Dr Mukesh Kumar started the programme by administering polio drops to the children at Apollo Hospital and Vedanta Staff Colony Hospital.
Inaugurating the programme, Dr Kumar said that the company reiterates its commitment for development of healthcare in the locality.
Immunisation of children would help them for a healthy living of the future generation, he added.
On January 10, a total of 1,434 children were immunised through 13 immunisation booths.
One transit team also administered the polio drops at various locations.
Special efforts were made to cover the children of migrant workers, who come from various states to Lanjigarh.
The campaign continued for three days.
The company provided assistance in logistics arrangement, manpower and other support to the medical team of district health administration.
Prior to the programme, the CSR team members of the company conducted extensive awareness drive for one week to mobilize the community for active participation in the campaign.
With joint effort of the health team and VAL, there was an overwhelming response to the programme by the community.


State chapter of IAPQR inaugurated
Dhenkanal: General secretary of Indian Association for Productivities, Quality and Reliability (IAPQR) B Das said that the opening of the first-ever chapter of the Kolkata-based IAPQR in Odisha assumes immense significance for the state where rapid industrialization is taking place.
He was speaking at the inauguration of the Chapter at the Synergy Institute of Engineering and Technology (SIET) here recently.
Present on the occasion, chief guest General Manager (HR) JSPL Dilip Mohanty and guest of honour and chief of Tata SASOL Coal Project Piyush Srivastava stressed the need for productivity enhancing technology through practice of quality and reliability in the backdrop of the forthcoming huge investment in the industrial sector in the region.
They welcomed the opening of the new IAPQR chapter and promised all possible support in carrying out its activities.
Among others, SIET chairman Binod Dash, Director (academic) A Sarangi and principal SS Hota also spoke.
Ashis Kumar Chakraborty of IAPQR explained the objectives of the national workshop on Planning and Analysis of Experiments for Quality and Reliability Improvements that was organized on January 7 and 8.




ICICI Bank opens new branch in city
Bhubaneswar: Finance minister Prafulla Chandra Ghadei on Monday inaugurated a new branch of ICICI Bank, India’s largest private sector bank, at Cuttack Road here.
Among others, commissioner-cum-secretary, panchayati raj Surendranath Tripathy, panchayati raj minister, I&PR minister Prafulla Samal and BMC commissioner Gadadhar Parida graced the occasion.
The branch will remain open for customer transactions on Monday to Friday from 9 AM to 6 PM and 9 AM to 2 PM on Saturday.


AXIS Bank opens 2nd ATM counter
Paradip: AXIS Bank has opened its second ATM counter at Bijay Chandrapur village near Tarini Gada at the outskirts of Paradip.
Paradip Port Trust chairman K Raghuramaiah inaugurated the counter.
Among others, general manager (finance) of the IFFCO AT Kansara, Kabarwala, S Dutta and industrialists of Paradip Manas Ranjan Swain and Rankan Kumar Das were present. Branch manager of the bank Sanjay Kumar Agasti said that the bank will open ATM counters at Bhutamundai, Rahama and Erasama very soon.
The bank is growing fast in the locality and earned its reputation for its good customer care and personalized service.


Nalco peripheral growth: No utilization report submitted
Angul: Utilization certificates of around Rs 3.5 crore for works under Nalco peripheral development programme have not been submitted yet by various government departments that have executed the works.
Besides, the periphery development society (PDS) under the chairmanship of the district collector has not been audited since its inception.
According to reports, Nalco has so far spent Rs 56 crore for peripheral development in Angul.
However, a significant portion of this amount has been spent out of Angul district by pressure from corrupt officials.
Several top bureaucrats have put pressure on Nalco and diverted the peripheral development fund to other areas, the report alleged.
Office accessories and residential fittings including computers, air conditioners, fax and xerox machines have been purchased from the Nalco peripheral fund for the former RDC and collector who are now transferred to other places.
Moreover, money from the Nalco peripheral development fund for Angul has been allegedly spent for a function in Sambalpur.
There is absolutely little development in the peripheral areas of Nalco at Angul as well as Damanjodi due to negligence, corruption and misutilisation of the peripheral development fund by some tainted bureaucrats of the state government, the reports pointed out.


PPT stops overloaded iron ore trucks
Paradip: The Paradip Port Trust (PPT) has stopped overloaded iron ore trucks from unloading the cargo belonging to various exporters from the port town in the port’s prohibited area as there is a variation between the permit and weight challan.
The action of the PPT has come in the wake of an explanation sought by the mining department authorities who had questioned the PPT authorities about the export quantity from the port which is more than the permission given by the mining department.


Polio booth opened at JSPL health centre
Angul: The health department of Jindal Steel & Power Ltd (JSPL) here has taken initiative with cooperation of the Angul district health administration to open a polio booth in the company occupational health centre in the project premises to cater to service of children between 0-5 years of its employees and labourers residing in the premises.
The booth was inaugurated on Sunday on the occasion of Pulse Polio day.
JSPL project president DK Saraogi, his wife Sujata Saraogi and president of Jindal Mahila Samiti Usha Jha graced the occasion as guests and blessed the children by giving polio drops.
Medical officer of the centre Dr Srikant Swain, Dr Bijoy Bishoi and pharmacist Kali Prasanna Mishra, with their team and AWC worker of Nisha village Annapurna Biswal and Binapani Pradhan made the programme a great success.
The company plans to open a regular complete immunization centre shortly.



Safety of IOCL SPM, pipeline demanded
Paradip: The National Intelligence Agency has suggested the Centre to take safety measures for the Single Point Mooring (SPM) system of the Indian Oil Corporation Ltd (IOCL) at Paradip and its 330-km-long pipeline linking Paradip with Haldia and Barauni refineries.
These SPM and the pipeline are exposed and anybody can play foul with them.
The filled crude oil pipeline can play havoc if anti-nationals try to create problem, the agency has pointed out.
According to Sankhanada Behera, a local environmentalist, the pipeline had leaked on January 4, 2009 at Chanakara near Paradip and in December at Tihidi in Bhadrak district. The land on which the oil had leaked cannot be used for cultivation for the next five years.
Also, the IOCL’s hoses for connecting ships to its pipeline at the SPM system are discharging crude oil to seawater, which has become hazardous for the creatures in water. The IOCL had stopped its SPM operation on April 3, 2009 when its hoses burst with a lot of leakage of oil.
One of the discharging tankers, MT NAVI had to be diverted to other ports after discharging half of the cargo at the Paradip SPM.
It took months for repairs of the SPM. Other waiting tankers were also diverted to other ports without discharging their cargoes. The names of the tankers were MT Sadananda and MT Jag Lalit, Behera said.
The SPM point in the mid-sea is also not guarded, except the IOCL's hired floating tugs, which is not efficient to do such work, Behera said, adding that with such conditions, the IOCL SPM may destroy Odisha's environment.
Besides, the pollution caused by the pipeline would destroy agriculture, he maintained.


BBCB likely to get scheduled bank status
Balasore: The Balasore Bhadrak Central Cooperative Bank (BBCB) in a major achievement has obtained the certificate from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) for carrying out banking business.
Briefing newsmen here, president of the bank Jiban Pradip Dash said that the bank aspires to be a scheduled bank by the beginning of the next fiscal year.
We have received communication from the RBI basing on our performance and we hope we would be a scheduled bank as our turnover touched Rs 888 crore against the requirement of Rs 1,000 crore, he said, while claiming that the bank is the number one in the state.
Highlighting various achievements, he further emphasised that the bank has been registering profits since the last five years and its net profit was Rs 1.88 crore in the last fiscal year.
Dash also said that the bank has extended nearly Rs 165 crore for rabi plantation and 80 per cent of agriculture farming loan has been shouldered by the bank.
Under Mission Shakti, the bank has extended loan of nearly Rs 30.65 crore through credit linkage to 7,500 groups while twice being awarded as best in the State, Dash informed.
The NPA of the bank has been 4.77 per cent and recovery was satisfactorily around 87 per cent, he further mentioned.
Among others, DRCS of the bank Manoranjan Nayak, directors Shyama Prasad Behera, Kailash Barik, Giridhari Das, Anita Bhuyan, Minati Panda, Nilima Desuari, Tilottama Jena and Purnima Senapati were present on the occasion.


JSPL promotes youth sports, women empowerment
Angul: Angul ADM Deboraj Senapati and International Body Building official Golakbihari Patnaik inaugurated the gymnasium and volleyball fields constructed by the Jindal Steel and Power Limited (JSPL) at Jarada village in Angul district.
Speaking on the occasion, Patnaik assured to provide all possible helps to promote rural body builders to contest in district-level events.
Later, the guests inaugurated a stitching centre at the same village.
The centre is an initiative of the JSPL to empower rural women. Fifteen girls enrolled their names for learning stitching in the centre.
The guests appreciated the efforts of the JSPL towards promoting spirit of sports among rural youth and empowering skills of rural women.
Among others, senior general manager (HR) DK Mohanty, CSR head P Satpathy and members of the Kalinga Club were present.


SOSA demands Bank of Odisha at Berhampur
Berhampur: While praising the recent long-awaited decision of the State Government to form a sub-committee under the State Revenue Minister for exploring the establishment of Bank of Odisha, the South Odisha Students’ Association (SOSA) has requested Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik for establishment of Bank of Odisha with its headquarters at Berhampur.
In a letter to the chief minister, SOSA president R P Tripathy hoped that the state government would announce the formation of the Bank of Odisha with its corporate headquarters at Berhampur as it is logical that the rewards must go together with performance.
The headquarters of the proposed Bank of Odisha at Berhampur in recognition of its standing in banking, business and commerce in the state will send the right signals and help the cities of Odisha focus on their core competencies, he wrote in his letter.
This will become the first state-level headquarters of any establishment of any sector that will be located in Berhampur city.
Further, the headquarters of Bank of Odisha in Berhampur will ensure distributive justice in the establishment of state institutions and the state government must give Berhampur the due recognition that it deserves through this initiative, he added.


Agro-industry SEZ at Aska proposed
Berhampur: The Southern Odisha Development Council has proposed for establishment of a special agro-industry economic zone at Aska in Ganjam, along with some other demands in its Vikash Kranti Samabesh held at Babanpur Gram Panchayat in the district.
The development council held the Vikash Kranti congregation at Gaganpur gram panchayt under the leadership of Dayanidhi Sahu in which eminent persons including Aska MLA D Mohanty joined and discussions were held with a view to eradicating poverty from the southern region.
It was proposed that the state government should take steps to establish a special economic zone particularly based on the agro-industries keeping in view sugar and textile factory area at Aska in Ganjam.
Besides, the Council also proposed for the establishment of a research centre for agro-industries, technical college, construction of Berhampur-Aska-Phulbani-Rayagada railway line, water project at Rushikulya-Badanadi linking point, processing industry for forest products at Sorada, sugar factories and paper industries at Belaguntha, Bhanjanagar and Sheragarh in Ganjam district.


SPCB serves show cause notice to Ananta open cast mining authorities
Angul: The State Pollution Control Board has served a show cause notice to the Ananta open cast mining authorities where fire broke out on December 31last year.
The notice issued by the member secretary of the Board asked coal authorities to take immediate measures to put out the fire.
The Board apprehended that fire likely to cause severe air pollution exceeding the normal standard prescribed by the board.
It invoked Section 31A of (Air pollution and control of pollution) Act, 1981 to slap the show cause asking the colliery authorities to reply within seven days.
It also mentioned that the 12 million ton capacity coal mine has got consent to operate till March end of 2011.
Contacted, the colliery official said that they have already complied with the show cause notice on time.


Odisha can be automobiles, auto components hub
Bhubaneswar: Team Odisha participated in a seminar on ‘An interactive session with state governments on investment opportunities’ organized jointly by ACMA, SIAM and CII at Pragati Maidan in New Delhi, where Auto Expo 2010 is being organised from January 5-11.
Addressing the seminar, commissioner-cum-secretary, industries Saurabh Garg expressed hope that Odisha should be the preferred destination for setting up auto and auto component industries.
He said that during the last decade the state has emerged as a leading destination for foreign as well as domestic investment in various sectors, including steel, aluminum, power, infrastructure and IT.
The opportunities for investments in auto and auto-component sector are very favorable due to availability of cost effective critical inputs.
Raw materials, namely, hot steel, molten aluminum and cheap power is available, he said.
Both skilled and semi-skilled manpower, rapidly developing infrastructure like roads, railways, ports, and sector specific industrial parks and connectivity to major auto-hubs in India by both rail and road are the plus points.
Garg hinted at the world class Research and Development institutes such as CIPET at Bhubaneswar (Engineering Plastics), Indian Rare Earths Limited (IRL) at Gopalpur (Ceramics), IMMT at Bhubaneswar (Materials) and IIT at Bhubaneswar have added to the advantageous position.
The seminar was attended by corporate representatives of auto and auto-component sector both from domestic and foreign companies.
Entrepreneurs, industry and trade associations, Government officials’ senior functionaries of ACMA, SIAM and CII representatives participated in the seminar.
The auto and auto-component manufacturing industry has a high employment potential and such units help in developing the capability of the engineering industry in general.
Managing Director, RSB Global SK Behera which is one of the pioneer units in auto-component sector in Odisha and proponent for an Auto-Park in the state, outlined the reasons for choosing this eastern Indian state and their plans for further investments there.


Nalco Foundation Day fest dropped
Koraput: Though the preparations for the 30th Foundation Day programme of Nalco to be held on Thursday were completed, the agitating displaced workers' union of Nalco sat on a dharna at the site of the function, forcing the authorities to cancel the function.
Prior to the celebrations, Nalco officials had held discussions with the workers, which failed.
The union had demanded rehabilitation of the widow of Basudev by providing her a job and imparting technical training for his children as Basudev had died in service.
The union had intimated the district administration and the Nalco authorities in writing about its dharna.


Industries urged to create engineers, doctors
Bhubaneswar::  Renowned economist and vice chancellor of JNU, Dr BB Bhattacharya on Wednesday observed that while China is turning out to be the factory of the world, India is virtually the service centre of the world but to become a economic super power and retain such a position the country must invest heavily on education, research and development.
Delivering the Nalco Foundation Day Lecture here, Bhattacharya, while providing a vivid picture of the world economy, the recession and India’s position before drawing conclusions on the way ahead, said that India has emerged as the service center providing skilled workforce to the world at large be it in IT, medicine or engineering sectors.
But we need to expand this base. The glorious contrast is we talk of knowledge economy. Yet, the budget of all our universities put together is less than that of Beijing University, he said.
South Korea, South Africa, Malaysia and a host of other emerging economies spend 25 to 50 per cent of the Budget on education and R&D, he said.
Barring the Tatas, no other big industrial house invests in education. The multi-national companies will not solve our problems, they will only hire us to solve their own problems, Bhattacharya pointed out.
How many new products are from Indian industries, the new designs and products are all due to joint collaboration as no Indian company spends on research, he said.
The tragedy is that even in software Indians produce for foreign companies, a BTech joins or is hired by the industry, he or she does not go back to study MTech or do a PhD. Structural changes in the basic economic policy coupled with emphasis on R&D by both the private and public sector is the need of the hour, he observed.
Bhattacharya said that the success of Nalco which aspires to graduate from Navaratna to Maharatna status gives the all important message that management and not ownership is what matters most.
Don’t go by the buzzword of privatisation and don’t discount the public sector, he said while stressing that managerial efficiency have led to the success of several major PSUs in the country.


RSP posts record output in 2009
Rourkela: The Rourkela Steel Plant (RSP) concluded the calendar year 2009 on a high note by notching up the highest saleable steel production of 2.02 million tonnes for any calendar year.
This achievement was made possible because of the best ever performance in hot strip mill with production of 1.54 MT of HR coil.
During the year, the RSP achieved more than 100 per cent capacity utilization in hot metal, crude steel and saleable steel production, a RSP release said.


Balasore Alloys targets 2010 as the year of progress
Balasore: The Balasore Alloys has targeted the current year as the year of progress.
Briefing newsmen here on Wednesday, Balasore Alloys managing director Rabindra Jena said that though the company struggled for survival in the acute global meltdown situation, it could sustain against adversities.
We look forward to growth and development in this year, he informed.
Besides, he asserted that the recession across the globe had surpassed the severity witnessed in 1930 and said, that it was an uphill task to keep the industry going.
Despite the adverse situation, Balasore Alloys could live up to its promise of not retrenching any employee and ensuring payment of salaries on time, he pointed out.
He also said that although Ferro-Alloys in the global market had slumped to 32 per cent, the company had made optimum production throughout the period.
The company emphasizes on Corporate Social Responsibility, mainly on health and education for the distressed and underprivileged and has donated a ventilator worth nearly Rs 7 lakh to one of the private hospital here, which has been the only hospital, where facility for life support is available in north Odisha.
He however, lamented that although Balasore Alloys had contributed Rs 9 lakh for setting up of an ICU unit in the DHH, three years have elapsed but the ICU has still remained inoperative.
He also said that with the growth of its plant, employment generation and CSR contribution would grow in the district.


2009, a turbulent year for Air India
Mumbai: The Year 2009 will undoubtedly go down in the history of civil aviation in India, and globally, as one of the worst years.
The effect of global economic recession was severely felt by the aviation industry resulting in fewer passengers travelling and revenues dwindling.
India was not an exception to this effect nor was Air India.
Airlines resorted to rationalization of services, reduction in capacity, cost controls, retrenchment, etc to counter the situation.
In India, the problem was compounded by excess capacity in the market resulting in low yields, which affected the revenue earnings of all airlines.
Despite difficult conditions, Air India faced and continues to face the challenges, to take the airline forward.
While the traffic has picked up in the last few months, which gives a ray of hope to the airline industry, the finances are still weak due to low yields.
Addressing a press meet at Air India Building in Mumbai recently, Arvind Jadhav, Chairman and Managing Director, Air India, spoke about the numerous measures that Air India has initiated to meet the current situation viz. improvement in on-time performance, operational restructuring, reduction in costs, etc.


Induction of new aircraft
Jadhav said that Air India has been one of the few airlines which continued to induct new aircraft into its fleet during the year 2009.
Consequently, Air India could phase out the older and some of the leased aircraft.
The new aircraft acquired by Air India are equipped with modern passenger amenities – In-Flight Entertainment system, comfortable seats, etc., he said.
During the year 2009, a total of 29 aircraft were added to the fleet of Air India, which included seven Boeing 777s, eight Airbus A321s, and nine Airbus A319s besides five Boeing 737-800s for Air India Express.
Jadhav said that consequent to the induction of new aircraft in the fleet, Air India has deployed the Boeing 777s on all its seven West-bound destinations and to Tokyo, thus ensuring a consistent and superior product on long haul destinations in the USA, Europe, and Canada and to Tokyo.
We can aver with a fair amount of confidence that on each of the routes on which the B777s are deployed, our aircraft can match the aircraft operated by competing airlines on that particular sector, he added. Deployment of new B777s has also resulted in substantial reduction in cost of operation as these aircraft are more fuel efficient, he added.
On the domestic services, Jadhav said that Air India is deploying more and more of its Airbus A319s and A321s to replace the A320s.
These aircraft are also fitted with the In-Flight Entertainment System and have a seat pitch superior to other airlines.
Induction of new aircraft in fleet has also enabled Air India to expand its network by introduce new domestic city pairs, especially in and from the South, which include – Bangalore / Hyderabad, Chennai / Bhubaneswar, Hyderabad / Pune, Hyderabad / Cochin, Hyderabad / Colombo, Chennai / Cochin and Bangalore / Cochin, he said.
On the international network Air India has extended the Delhi – New York flight up to Washington thus providing direct connectivity between the Capital cities of the two countries.

Frequent Flyer Programme
As the airlines are operating in a highly competitive environment with seats chasing passengers, Air India is all set to re-launch its Frequent Flyer Programme (FFP) to extend a bouquet of benefits to Air India’s frequent travelers, Jadhav informed.
The mileage table has been amended to be more competitive and made simpler. The award points are now based on Ticket Mileage Points (TPMs).
The redemption levels are now comparable to industry standards, slab based and TPM related.
Award threshold has been reduced, particularly on the international sectors.
The Earn / Burn ratio is also more competitive, benefiting the passenger.
To add further value, Lufthansa and Singapore Airlines are already participating airlines in our FFP programme.

Operational restructuring
Amongst several initiatives by Air India on the operational restructuring has been network restructuring & route rationalization, elimination of positioning legs from the base station to another city for operating international flights, rationalization of aircraft deployment, Jadhav said, adding that these measures have helped in reducing costs, increasing revenues.
We expect a net benefit of Rs.378 Crores in terms of cost reduction during the winter schedule 2009 and Rs. 563 Crores for the entire year, he said. Air India’s aircraft utilization has considerably improved across various types of aircraft in our fleet, which has been a major factor for the uptrend in our performance, said Jadhav.
Better utilization of the aircraft also helped in deployment of released capacity of five 747-400s and two Airbus A-330s for the Haj operations, resulting in substantial savings.
Induction of 29 new aircraft in 2009 and enhanced utilization of fleet has helped in phasing out 11 old aircraft.
By March 2010, three more Boeing B777-200s, two Airbus A-310s and eight Airbus A-320s would be returned / retired from the fleet.
As part of the route rationalization exercise, Air India has withdrawn from certain sectors on India – Gulf routes and has transferred these routes to Air India Express, in order to improve profitability of the flights.

Improvement in performance
During April to November this year, passengers carried by Air India increased by 10.1 per cent over the corresponding period last year.
Air India’s domestic market share in November 2009 has increased to 18.8 per cent from 16.6 per cent in August 2009.
During November 2009, Air India’s market share (18.8 per cent) and the seat factor of 74.1 per cent were higher than that of all legacy carriers on stand alone basis.
Also, Air India’s market share has been more than the capacity share in the market. We expect to maintain the uptrend in performance in the coming months too, Jadhav said.

Reduction in cost
Air India has taken several initiatives to cut costs through active monitoring of fuel efficiency parameters, which has enabled us to achieve a savings of Rs. 146 Crores up to October 2009 Jadhav said.
Air India was also the recipient of the First Prize in the General Category of the National Energy Conservation Awards 2009, instituted by the Bureau of Energy Efficiency and Ministry of Power, Government of India.
The conferment of the Award has come as a befitting recognition of Air India’s efforts in energy conservation and efficiency to make it a Green Airline.
Jadhav said that Air India curtailment in costs have been achieved in areas of hotel accommodation, transportation, foreign and domestic travels and tours, reduction of over-time and work-through-break and other controllable areas.
In India and abroad, Air India has combined the booking offices of erstwhile Air India and Indian Airlines to save on establishment costs.
Similarly, the office at the Jeevan Bharti Building in New Delhi has been surrendered resulting in a savings of approximately Rs 5 crore annually, he informed.
Air India has also initiated action to appoint General Sales Agents in as many countries as possible to reduce operations and establishment costs.
Also, apart from curtailment of foreign postings for officials, the executive directors of all international regions viz. USA, Europe, Gulf & Middle East and Asia & Pacific have been relocated in Mumbai, resulting in savings in establishment and housing costs, Jadhav said.
Contractual employment is being reduced substantially by Air India in every area of activity and renewal of contract is now being approved only after scrutiny for operational requirements.

Air India as a national carrier
On Air India’s operation in the North East that extends to all 11 operational airfields providing 105 services and 9550 seats per week, the AI CMD said that Air India’s operations as per government’s route dispersal guidelines have always been much higher than the stipulated.
Air India is operating 22.4 per cent on Category 2 routes – from / to North East, J & K, Port Blair and Lakshwadeep Islands – as against the guideline of 10 per cent. Similarly, on Category 2A routes, Air India operates 2.3 per cent as against the guideline of 1 per cent.

Engineering MRO
Air India, moving a step ahead on the Engineering MRO, entered into a strategic alliance for marketing Engine Overhaul facility with the Sharjah based Aerostar Asset Management, Jadhav informed.
The alliance has created an Engine MRO brand called ‘The A Team’ that has started providing engine repair and management solutions to all airline operators of the Gulf region to begin with.
The A Team will utilize the existing engine overhaul facilities of Air India at Mumbai and marketing set up of Aerostar in the Middle East, Jadhav said, adding that this alliance will sell repair services for jet engines such as GE CF6-50 & 80 series, P & W 4000 series, GE – 90 series and CFM 56-7 series and will also cover CFM 56-5 series engine in the near future.
Air India is not only an airline operating flights between cities but is a multi faceted organization engaged in air transportation, cargo, ground handling and engineering MRO, etc.
The infrastructure it has created over the years and its experienced manpower, provide ample opportunity to stand up to the challenges in the aviation industry. These areas are receiving due attention for generating additional revenue for the airline.
Though Air India has achieved considerable progress during 2009 in controlling costs and enhancing revenues, the efforts are to be sustained and doubled in 2020 in order to turnaround the airline financially, Jadhav said.
This is considered imperative as the forecast for next year also shows that the demand, particularly in premium classes, will be sluggish.
As a matter of fact, International Air Transport Association (IATA) has projected a net loss of US$ 5.6 billion net loss for the aviation industry in 2010.


Coal supply to Nalco restored
Talcher: The Rapid Loading System (SILO) at the Bharatpur coalmine of the Mahanadi Coalfields Limited (MCL) that was damaged due to fire was made operational again from Monday evening after changing one set of conveyor belt out of the two damaged at a cost of Rs 2.50 lakh.
This resulted in restoration of normal supply of coal to Nalco. During the mishap period, coal supply to Nalco was approximately 13,000 tonnes per day, which is as per the annual contract quantity.
The second standby belt will also be replaced by January 9, according to an MCL release on Tuesday.


First compact truck launched
Bhubaneswar: Mahindra and Mahindra Limited, a leading player in the small commercial vehicles segment in the country, on Monday launched the first four-wheel drive half tonne Mahindra Gio.
The Mahindra Gio combines style, status, comfort and safety and operates with a low maintenance cost of a three-wheeler.
The ex-showroom prize of the vehicle is Rs 1.68 lakh, equipped with 9.1 HP Kohler diesel engine, giving a mileage of 27 km per litre.
The Gio is all set to change the dynamics of the small CV segment, said president Automotive Sector of Mahindra and Mahindra Pawan Goenka.


Industries urged to control pollution
Paradip: A state level seminar on Environmental Hazards at Paradip was held here on Sunday on the occasion of the 48th Foundation Day of the Paradip Port.
The seminar was organized by noted environmentalist Sankhanada Behera in the premises of Dakshin Kali Mandir at Atharbanki.
Among others, local MLA and agriculture and cooperation minister Damodar Rout, chairman of Odisha State Pollution Control Board Rabi Narayan Senapati, chairman of Odisha State Environmental Sub Committee MLA Amar Prasad Satpathy, DGM of Paradip Phosphates PK Panda, AP Singh from IFFCO, Bilochana Jena from Goa Carbon, chairman of Paradip Municipality Kishore Kumar Parida, Utkal Ranjan Mohanta and Sarada Prasad Mohanty were present.
The participants expressed their concern about pollution in and around Paradip by various port-based industrial units, including the Paradip Port Trust (PPT).
The earth, water and air are polluted to serious proportions and dreaded diseases are spreading gradually, which has even caused death of some children and youth due to respiratory and neurological problems, alleged Behera.
He urged the industry officials and the agriculture minister to take prompt action against the errant industries, unless the industries do some exemplary works to stop or curb pollution and strictly follow government guidelines on pollution.
Rout expressed his as well as the state government's dissatisfaction over the negligent attitude of the PPT management towards the local people.
He criticized the port management for celebrating the port's foundation day with programmes like a state-level marathon competition without having scant regards for its founder Biju Patnaik.
The seminar, which was attended by about 5,000 people, was organised by the Bhumiputra Multipurpose Cooperative Society under the leadership of Sankhanada Behera.
Secretary of the Society Chinmay Das delivered the welcome address, while PK Mishra proposed the vote of thanks.

CITU defers stir
Rourkela: The tug-of-war between CITU and the SAIL continues, with the former opposing the decision taken at the National Joint Council for Steel (NJCS) on the issue of wage revision of SAIL workers.
The wage revision, which was being delayed by the SAIL, made the CITU declare a strike on October 30 and 31 severely affecting production of SAIL, due to the overwhelming support it received from the workers.
The success of the strike called by CITU had marginalised other trade unions.
These sidelined unions of INTUC, HMS and AITUC tried to single out CITU by agreeing in the NJCS meeting, which was abstained by CITU to 78.2 per cent DA, but on the MGB, while CITU demanded 28 per cent, the other unions agreed to 21 per cent. Other aspects of their demand like fringe benefits, cumulative increment and the demand for a five year period of agreement were put off to be decided at a later date.
As per the constitution of the NJCS, all the four unions are to sign the wage revision. Citing it as unconstitutional, CITU decided to call for a strike from January 5.
Going by CITU's past success, the chairman of SAIL apprehending further losses due to the strike intervened and asked CITU national president MK Pande to withhold the strike.
The chairman assured that CITU’s demand would be considered in the coming NJCS meeting to be held on January 11 and 12.
CITU state general secretary Bishnu Mohanty said that if the management does not agree to demand, they would go in for an indefinite strike.
2,500 benefit from Vedanta mega health camp
Jharsuguda: As part of its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) programme, a mega health camp was organized by Vedanta Aluminium Ltd (VAL) here on Sunday.
The camp was aimed at treating and providing medical attention to inhabitants of the town besides an open invitation to all residents of peripheral villages.
Over 40 specialist doctors of medicine, skin, eye, orthopaedics, ENT, obstetrics and gynecology, paediatrics, chest diseases and surgery from the Veer Surendra Sai Medical College Hospital, Burla, District Headquarters Hospitals of Jharsuguda and Sambalpur and resident doctors of VAL attended the camp.
Over 2,500 patients were given free treatment and medicines.
People from all age groups including the physically challenged came to seek medical assistance.
The number of patients was unprecedented in any health camp in Jharsuguda before.
Inaugurating the camp, Rajya Sabha member Kishore Mohanty said that more and more corporate bodies and companies should emulate the effort of Vedanta, through which the public can be benefited.
VAL COO Abhijit Pati said that this is for the first time that the company is conducting a mega health camp inside the town area.
We have resolved to conduct such camps for the benefit of our community. We intend to take this relationship forward with more vigour in future, he added.
Among others, Zamil Khan, Dileswar Rao, Sanu Das, Head Administration VAL, Koustuv Kundu, Head Human Resources, Sanjiv Patnaik Head CSR and Shivanand Mohanty Head PRO, together with over 50 town volunteers, Vedanta CSR and Administration teams were present in the camp that was coordinated by Dr KK Saran of VAL.


SBI ATM counter inaugurated
Talcher: The State Bank of India’s Talcher branch opened its eighth ATM counter at Balaram township here recently.
The ATM counter was inaugurated by PK Byas of Balaram Mines.
Among others, SBI regional manager Ratikanta Satpathy, chief manager Sanjib Das, finance manager SK Kanan and secretary Bank Employees’ Association Anata Das were present.


Sangh demands probe into expenditure of power distcos
Bhubaneswar: The Odisha Rajya Bidyut Sramik Karmachari Sangh on Sunday demanded a probe by the Crime Branch or Vigilance on the expenditure from 1999 onwards by the power distribution companies, filling up of vacant posts, regularization of contractual labourers and rehabilitation of heirs of the employees who die while carrying out their jobs.
More than 3,000 delegates participated in the 47th state level convention of the Sangh that concluded last week.
The Sangh’s office-bearers for 2010 were elected during the convention.
While Bhubaneswar Rao was elected as president, Suresh Kumar Behera was elected as working president, vice-presidents were Vinod Mahapatra, Dinabandhu Mohanty, Padmalochan Padhi, secretary Krushna Chandra Panda and Prasant Mahapatra was elected as treasurer.


Reliance Seva Kendra
Bhubaneswar: Reliance Communications, which launched Reliance Seva Kendra outlets in rural towns of the state, has decided to establish 400 such kendra’s across the state by March 2010.



NTPC Talcher posts record PLF
Talcher: The NTPC Talcher Thermal Power Station achieved 90.58 per cent PLF (Plant Load Factor) in the calendar year 2009 by generating 3,650 million units of electricity. The 40-year-old power plant has been sustaining its performance by generating at more than 90 per cent PLF for the last two consecutive years.
The plant was taken over by the NTPC from the erstwhile Odisha State Electricity Board in 1995 while it was running at around 19 per cent PLF.
The NTPC could turn around the performance figures after taking up renovation and modernisation.
The support of the villagers around the plant and the local administration also played a vital role in this success story.


JSPL supports labourers’ children
Angul: Talented students of AARAMB, which is established in the JSPL office premises at Nisha to educate the children of the labourers working at various JSPL sites through non-formal and joyful learning methods, will be supported with all requisite help by Jindal, said Director, HR, Jindal Corporate Office KK Sinha.
Children reading in the school were provided with supplementary food to maintain their nutrition level.
Sinha visited the school to encourage the children. He was welcomed by the tiny-tots with a welcome song.
In his friendly gesture, he asked each child about their future plans.
He advised them to study hard so that they can reach their goals.
For the New Year, he distributed each child a school dress and schoolbag.
Among others present on the occasion were, Senior GM (HR) DK Mohanty, vice-president, Power Plant PP Singh and Head, CSR Puspalata Satpathy.



Thorat new IEA president
Bhubaneswar: UGC Chairman Prof Sukhdeo Thorat is the new president of the Indian Economic Association during the IEA’s 92nd convention held at the KIIT University premises in the city here recently.
He succeeds Prof C H Hanumantha Rao.
Apart from being the UGC chairman, Thorat is also a member of several organizations including CAPART, Social Justice Division of the Planning Commission, Academic Council of Babasaheb Ambedkar Central University, Centre for Buddhist Studies and Himachal Pradesh University.
A faculty member of JNU since 1980, Thorat joined UGC in 2006.
He was the director of Indian Institute of Dalit Studies, New Delhi and a faculty member of several foreign universities.


Nalco executive gets NIPM Gold Medal
Bhubaneswar:  DGM (HRD) of Nalco’s Mines & Refinery Complex, Damanjodi, RK Sutar, won the prestigious Shyambandhu Misra Gold Medal for Excellence in HR for the year 2008-09.
He received the award from Director (Finance & Personnel), OHPCL, SK Patnaik. Instituted by veteran HR professional Shyambandhoo Misra, the award is given away annually by the National Institute of Personnel Management (NIPM), Utkal Chapter.


200 NCC cadets trained at Nalco SVM
Angul: The NCC cadets of various schools were trained on discipline, parade, use of arms and ammunitions, map reading, field craft and health and hygiene along with social issues like environment protection, saving the girl child, leadership and personality development in a mini camp held at Nalco SVM on the direction of the Commanding Officer of the twelfth Odisha Battalion, Dhenkanal, Col Rajesh Sharma.
The camp was organised for ten days from December 21 to 30 where Naib Subedar Tikaram Thendi, Havildar Tul Bahadur Ramjali, Homaguru and BB Gurung trained the cadets on behalf of the battalion.
In the concluding ceremony, NCC officer Jayant Kumar Panda and Bijayananda Panda addressed the students on the role of NCC cadets in nation building.
Around 200 cadets of Khadagprasad High School, Banarpal High School, Angul Government High School, Angul Town High School, Delhi Public School and Saraswati Vidya Mandir attended the camp which was organised with the cooperation of SVM Principal SS Bahinipati.
The dynamic leadership of Sergeant AA Mishra, Pallabi Dash, SN Pradhan and Swagatika Behera along with the disciplined presence of other cadets contributed to the success of the camp.


Posco awards TJ Park fellowships to students
Bhubaneswar: Posco-India has awarded 20 fellowships at four universities in Odisha. The fellowships, known as the Posco Asia Fellowships, are awarded by Posco's TJ Park Foundation to meritorious students across Asia. Each fellowship carries a grant of US $ 500.
The four universities, which participated in the fellowship programme in the state, are Utkal University, Biju Patnaik University of Technology, Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology and Odisha University of Agriculture and Technology (OUAT).
OUAT was added to the list this year and four fellowships were awarded in the university.
The fellowships are being awarded since 2006-2007, and till date, 218 fellowships have been awarded in India. Recipients of the fellowship are chosen by the university authorities on the basis of academic performance.
The Fellowships in Delhi were presented by Posco Director Gee-Woong Sung.
In the recently-concluded award ceremonies at KIIT, OUAT, BPUT and Utkal University, Posco Senior General Manager (HR, Admin and R&R) Saroj Mohapatra highlighted the company's continued commitment to educational development in Asia. GM Dong-Ho Oh said Posco is committed to developing deep relationships with academic institutions.
GM (External Relations) Simanta Mohanty said the fellowship would encourage the recipients to work hard.
Several students wanted to join Posco as soon as they pass out of their universities.
They hoped that Posco's 12-MTPA steel plant in Jagatsinghpur district would come up at the earliest.


Amway provides educational aid to needy children
Bhubaneswar: In keeping with its commitment towards the welfare of less privileged children of the Palli Unnayan Seva Samiti at Naharkanta near here, the Amway Opportunity Foundation (AOF), the corporate social responsibility arm of Amway India, on Thursday announced educational aid for additional infrastructure that would help children pursue education.
This initiative is part of the ongoing commitment under Project Sunrise, a global welfare initiative for these children in eastern India.
At a function, Area Manager, Odisha Amway Asish Kanta Mishra presented the first phase of donation comprising 20 study benches to Swati Suchismita Patra. Amway distributors and AOF volunteers also supported the move.
These benches would serve the requirement of seats for the students of classes V and VI. AOF will present the remaining 30 benches to the other classes of the Samiti in the next phases.
The Samiti children enthralled the audience with an engrossing cultural programme. Mishra said that in line with our commitment for the less privileged children of Palli Unnayan Seva Samiti, the company had rolled out Project Sunrise in 2008 and set up a computer centre for them.
The aim behind Project Sunrise is to work in partnership with the NGOs and orphanages to ensure a bright future for the children and help them become economically self reliant, he added.
AOF would provide aid to million of needy children ensuring proper education, better healthcare facility and access to safe drinking water, said vice-president, East, Amway India and chief volunteer for AOF in East, Diptarag Bhattacharjee.
The Palli Unnayan Seva Samiti had been set up by the legendary social worker Kadambini Bhuyan, who dedicated her life to the service of destitute children.
The orphanage now provides refuge to 365 children.


Court stays opening of Volkswagon showroom in city
Bhubaneswar:  Senior Judge Civil Division, Bhubaneswar, has given an interim stay on the construction of a Volkswagon car showroom by city-based Bharat Motors Private Limited at Pahala Mouza on the city outskirts.
Notably, Ramakanta Sethy of Adhalia village under Cuttack Sadar police station in Cuttack district on December 12, 2004, entered into an agreement with Kuntala Mahapatra of Naharkanta village for purchasing 300 decimal land out of 3.560 decimal in Pahala Mouza for against consideration amount of Rs 2 lakh.
On the day of agreement Sethy handed over Rs 10,000 to Mohapatra.
Subsequently, Sethy handed over rest consideration amount to her.
But Mahapatra subsequently executed a fake sale deed in favour of Bharat Motors and in meantime Bharat Motors started construction over land in question for a showroom of Volkswagon with the help of Volkswagon Group Sales India Pvt Limited.
So the situation compelled Sethy to file civil suit before the Civil Judge Senior Division, Bhubaneswar.
As Jayprakash Didwania and Anita Didwania of Bharat Motors along with the Volkswagon group violated the court’s order a violation case was filed by Sethy but the opposite parties have not filed their counter.
Meanwhile, Sethy has brought it to the notice of different authorities including local MLA Bhagirathi Badajena.
When the Volkswagon Group with help of JP Didwania and Anita Didwania tried to forcibly open the showroom over the land, Sethy staged a dharna in front of the showroom.


Seminar on jute cultivation held
Cuttack: A seminar on jute cultivation in Odisha was held here on Thursday.
Gracing the event, agriculture minister Dr Damodar Rout and Jajpur MP Mohan Jena urged the farmers to expand jute cultivation.
The seminar was jointly hosted by the Dinabandhu B Memorial Trust and the Odisha Krushaka Surekhya Samiti.
Among cash crops, fibre crops are especially important, with jute accounting for the maximum area and turnout among all these crops, the speakers pointed out.
Rout said that Odisha is the fourth largest producer of jute after West Bengal, Bihar and Assam.
Rice and jute compete with each other as they require almost similar soil and climatic conditions.
Cultivation of jute is primarily confined to the coastal plains of Cuttack, Balasore and Puri districts, he added.
The agriculture minister said that the state government has been providing all kinds of support for jute cultivation.
He urged farmers to show more interest in jute cultivation.
Odisha, which had large-scale jute cultivation in the past, is gradually losing its jute acreage, which is almost on the verge of becoming extinct, the speakers said.
Among others, Braja Samal, Biswanath Das, K Barik and several others also spoke.


Voltas opens service centre in city
Bhubaneswar:  Air-conditioning major Voltas opened yet another service centre, Provision Enterprises, in Satya Nagar area here recently.
The service centre is fully equipped to deal with the entire range of Voltas air-conditioners, water coolers, water dispensers and commercial refrigeration products, Ashish Mathur, regional customer support manager (east) said, while inaugurating the centre.


Kalinga Ashok offers New Year Thali Fest
Bhubaneswar:  Hotel Kalinga Ashok is going to offer the New Year Maha Thali Festival from Friday at its famous Phulbani restaurant.
It ia a thoughtful fusion of Indian, Chinese Odissi star delicacies in addition to Odia and Indian Thalis.
The restaurant is decorated in traditional Odia style.



Restoration of Lalitgiri, Dhauli: NTPC inks MoU with ASI, NCF
Bhubaneswar: The National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) and National Culture Fund for restoration, conservation and development of group of monuments at the archaeological site at Lalitgiri and Dhauli in Odisha.
Besides, conservation and development of the group of monuments at Mandu in Madhya Pradesh and the group of temples at Jageshwar in Uttrakhand would also come under the MoU.
The MoU was signed by ASI director general KN Shrivastav, member secretary National Culture Fund Amaresh Singh and general manager, Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), NTPC Dinesh Singh.
Secretary Culture Jawahar Sarkar was also present.
Speaking on the occasion, executive director (CSR) NTPC AC Chaturvedi said that NTPC is committed to contributing in conserving the culture heritage sites which are our national treasure.


JSL plans 2.5 MT of stainless steel output capacity by 2014
Bhubaneswar: JSL Ltd today said its stainless steel manufacturing capacity will go up to about 2.5 MT by March 2014 on the back of a 1.6 MT greenfield plant it would set up in Odisha, making it the largest producer in India.
The BSE-listed company, which produces 0.72 MT of stainless steel from its Hisar plant, has commenced work in Orissa to set up 0.8 MT of capacity as part of first phase.
In the first phase of this greenfield project, we will set up a unit of 0.8 MT capacity. We expect to complete this by end of fiscal 2010 or early 2011, JSL Ltd General Manager (Marketing) Ajay Kumar told.
The integrated project will have facilities for mining of iron, manganese and chrome ore for production of ferro- alloys and stainless steel in the melt shop and rolling mills.
We will add another 0.8 MT as part of second phase by end of fiscal 2014. We will be the number one producer of stainless steel in the country as our total manufacturing capacity will go up to about 2.5 or 2.6 MT, Kumar said.
The total capacity upgradation by 2014 includes an existing ferro-alloy plant at Visakhapatnam with an installed capacity of 40,000 MT per annum as well as a precision strip unit, which will have a production capacity of 30,000 tonnes.
Stainless steel production in India currently stands at 1.8 MT.


Nayagarh Sugar clears govt dues
Bhubaneswar:  Nayagarh Sugar Complex Limited (NSCL) on Tuesday paid Rs 3,13,26,000 to the state government as its pre-payment against purchase of the erstwhile Nayagarh Cooperative Sugar Industries Ltd.
NSCL chairman Trailokya Mishra handed over the draft to agriculture and cooperation minister Damodar Rout at the State Secretariat here.
The minister lauded the company for clearing the outstanding dues in advance.
NSCL purchased the government-owned sugar mill in 2004 at Rs 5.22 crore.
It had earlier paid Rs 20,074,000 in different installments.
As per the sale-purchase agreement, the company was supposed to pay the outstanding over a period of 13 years.
The advance payment was possible as the company managed to find scope for growth in the sector, Mishra said.
NSCL director Sabyasachi Mishra said that the company is looking for modernization, expansion and value-addition in near future.
He said that the recent decision of the state government to accord sugar sector food processing industry status and appointing a task force for monitoring the growth prospects of sugar industry has boosted the business prospects of the segment.


OSRTC demands security for buses
Bhubaneswar:  The Odisha State Road Transport Corporation (OSRTC) has demanded adequate security for its buses plying in Maoist-affected districts in the state.
The demand came a day after armed Maoists set ablaze four OSRTC buses in Gajapati district on Sunday night.
According to chairman of OSRTC, Arun Samantaray, it is very risky to run buses in Maoist-hit districts.
It is not feasible for us to deploy security guards in each and every OSRTC bus.
The district administrations should provide security, he added.
Of the total 149 OSRTC buses in its fleet, 96 alone ply in Maoist-hit regions like Malkangiri, Motu, Koraput, Rayagada, Phulbani, Nabarangpur and Jeypore.
OSRTC has submitted a report to the Transport Department seeking better security besides some other facilities for the safety of passengers as well as staff of the government buses plying in Maoist-dominated districts.
The transport corporation has given us a report and the government is working to evolve strategies to tackle the situation with consultation with the home department.
The state government would see how to provide security to the buses, transport secretary Satyabrata Sahu said.


Tata project vital to growth in Kalinganagar: KIA
Bhubaneswar:  Members of the Kalinga Nagar Industries’ Association (KIA) on Tuesday met the industry secretary Saurabh Garg and urged him to take steps inviting fly ash-based industries like cement, brick, sheet, and slag based industries.
These industries would help to maximize utilization of fly ash from captive power plants and slag from the steel industries, KIA president PL Kandoi told reporters after the meeting.
The Association also urged the state government to take steps for proper infrastructure to be developed with respect to hospital, school, park, common facility centre.
It also said that the Kalinga Nagar Industrial Centre should be declared as industrial town as most of the land acquired by IDCO is for industrial purpose.
It also pointed out that the cluster of downstream and ancillary industries need to be encourages and land for such projects be earmarked and made available.
Tata Project is vital to the industrial growth of KNIC. All efforts may be taken to ensure starting of project work within a time frame, the Association members observed.
They also said that all KNIA units must get 100 per cent of their raw material requirement on priorities to ensure than KNIC units do not starve.
Daitari and Kaliapani are our own local sources and these must be reserved for KNIC units, they said.
The Association also said that supply of chain of iron ore, chrome ore and manganese ore must be re-instated immediately failing which all industries will lead to forceful closure very soon.
The industry secretary informed that Association that their demands would be examined at a high level meeting presided over by the chief minister soon.


Tata Steel sports complex inaugurated
Keonjhar: Tata Steel's efforts to promote sports in Odisha received a much-awaited impetus on Monday with the inauguration of the Dharani Dhar Sports Complex at Sankarpur in Keonjhar by chief minister Naveen Patnaik.
With this, Tata Steel achieves a milestone in its mission to empower the interiors of the State.
The sports complex is designed to house an indoor games hall, spectators' galleries and 400-metre running tracks.
Besides, there is sufficient space within the complex for additional facilities that would be incorporated in a phased manner as per requirement.
The indoor games hall will include a gymnasium, a row of changing rooms for both male and female athletes as well as separate badminton, basketball and volleyball courts.
The spectators' galleries are structured to accommodate around 1,500 people.
The total built-up area of the hall is 1,550 square metre.
This multi-utility Rs 5-crore project has been designed and constructed by Jamshedpur Utilities Services Company, a 100 per cent subsidiary of Tata Steel.
The chief minister said that the unveiling of the Dharani Dhar Sports Complex has made Keonjhar an unmatched place for nurturing sports talents in Odisha.
I heartily thank Tata Steel for their inclination to work for the empowerment of the people of Odisha, he added.
Patnaik had laid the foundation-stone of the complex on December 16, 2006.
Speaking on the occasion, Tata Steel Managing Director HM Nerurkar said that sports is a way of life at Tata Steel.
The company has always been at the forefront in honing local talents and bringing it on a par with national and international standards. Our efforts in Kalinga Nagar, Joda and Sukinda have started paying off. Young talents from the State are now being nurtured at Tata Football Academy, Tata Archery Academy and Tata Athletics Academy, he added.
Among others, housing and urban development minister Badri Narayan Patra, sports and youth services minister Prabin Chandra Bhanja Deo, school and mass education minister Pratap Jena and vice-president, Tata Steel Partha Sengupta were present on the occasion.


ArcelorMittal’s coaching centres a boon for school students
Bhubaneswar: Sixteen-year-old Tarini Shankar Behera starts preparing for his High School Certificate Examination at the crack of dawn.
A student of Class X at the Rajnagar High School, Raikala in Keonjhar district, Tarini diligently goes through the prescribed textbooks and study material in preparation for his Board Examination set to start in March next year.
Despite his obvious diligence, his confidence was shaky.
I study in a government school and there are not enough teachers to guide us. Also, my family cannot afford to provide tuitions. When I learnt that ArcelorMittal India is running a tutorial centre in my village, I immediately enrolled myself. Now, I get coaching in English, Mathematics and Science. This has given me new confidence, Tarini said.
The same opinion is voiced by Tushar and Sujata Dehuri, Class VIII students from Raikala.
ArcelorMittal-run tutorial centres are operational in its project villages in Keonjhar since February 2009.
According to the company, the philosophy behind these coaching classes is simple- to arrest the school dropout rate and ensure that children complete their school education.
In villages, it is not easy to find boys and girls who have completed their Class X examinations.
Along with lack of proper teachers or teaching facilities, a major cause for the increase in the number of school dropouts is their lack of proficiency in English, which is the medium of instruction in most schools.
In addition, many are weak in Science and Mathematics, and a good number of them lack correct study methods and ability for proper time management.
I come from the village and therefore understand the gap between what is taught and what the children need in order to excel. After ArcelorMittal India started their project, our children have improved in their studies. Moreover, they are showing an interest to learn, says Kholana Behera, a teacher of Science at the tutorial centres.
To help the young boys and girls prepare for their Board examinations, monthly tests in the subjects and their evaluation is also conducted at the tutorial centres.
Quarterly parent-teacher meetings are also conducted where feedback is given on the child's performance.
Till date, over 135 students including 58 girls have enrolled in these centres.
Country Head, Corporate Social Responsibility, ArcelorMittal India, Sudhir Kumar Sinha said that education forms an integral part of AM’s CSR strategies.
We are committed to raising the level of education since we believe that it is the engine of the development of a society.
Tutorial classes, as one of the strategies to promote education, have been proven to be an effective tool for those students who are finding difficult to cope with the sudden increase in levels in curriculums, and therefore dropping out.


Marine fish producers’ body elects office-bearers
Paradip: The Odisha Marine Fish Producers’ Association (OMFPA), the main association of the trawlers operating in Odisha, especially at Paradip elected their office-bearers on December 23.
Sumanta Kumar Biswal has been elected as the president, Kishore Kumar Biswal and Adikanda Mohanty as vice-presidents, Subhash Chandra Rout as secretary organisational and cultural, Bholanath Sahoo as joint secretary, Bijay Kumar Mohanty and Pramod Kumar Behera as assistant secretaries and Kanhu Charan Sahoo as treasurer, informed the president of the Association in a release.
The Association is working for the welfare of the marine industries here for the past four decades, besides taking various measures in eradicating alcoholism, gambling and smuggling activities at Paradip.


PPT awarded
Paradip: The Paradip Port Trust (PPT) has been awarded with the third prize for the year 2008-09 by the Union Ministry of Shipping for effective implementation of official language Hindi.
At a function held in New Delhi, Union minister of state for shipping Mukul Roy handed over the Rajbhasa shield to PPT Deputy Chairman Biplav Kumar.
Inspired by PPT Chairman K Raghuramaiah and Deputy Chairman Kumar and guided by secretary PK Nanda, the Hindi Cell of PPT has been continuously putting its endeavour for effective implementation of official language in the Port Trust as well as in other Central government offices, banks and undertakings located in Paradip.
Raghuramaiah congratulated Hindi Officer NK Pattanaik and his staff for their contributions to achieve the award.



Power crisis endangers Nalco smelter pots; production hit
Angul: Crisis prevails in the Nalco's smelter plant here due to failure of required supply of 185 KA power.
The complete failure of the Nalco authorities to arrange required coal for its power plant has created the unprecedented crisis.
Due to power shortage each pot is now supplied only 165 KA instead of 185 KA, which affects the electrolysis process and endangers the pots.
The callousness and inefficiency on the part of the Nalco management has led to a production loss of at least Rs 4 crore this month. Due to the low supply of amperes only 1,100 kg to 1,200 kg of aluminium is produced from each pot instead of 1,450 kg, sources said.
When the London Metal Exchange (LME) price is rising day by day, Nalco has failed to take the benefit of the rising market due to insufficient production.
The Nalco management, instead of arranging coal from the local market, is waiting for supply of coal from abroad.
To comply with the Prime Minister's 100-day programme and to complete its ongoing expansion project, the management has operated 240 new pots, but coal has not been arranged for the expansion project.


Coalmine faces closure
Talcher: Lingaraj open cast coalmine, linked to 3,000 MW Talcher Super Thermal Power plant, is facing closure due to land related problems.
The mine has reached dead end and there is an urgent need for the mine to cut across a village road, if its mining operation is to continue.
The land has already been acquired on payment of compensation to the erstwhile land-owners but villagers continue to protest and obstruct expansion work, said a colliery officer.
The Dera-Kandhal road under Talcher block is used by local people and it has to be demolished or cut across for expansion of the mining activity.
According to coal officials, there is already an alternative road in place and they are also ready to build another road to provide the communication link between Dera and Kandal. But they need to dismantle the road for mining activities, or else the mine will have to stop functioning.
Lingaraj mine, which is targeted to produce 13 million tonne for this fiscal, is producing an average daily of 40,000 tonne and dispatching almost same amount of coal to the NTPC-Kaniha power plant.
Colliery officials fear that they would not be able to supply the required amount of coal to the power plant unless the road is cut for mining expansion.
Contacted, sub collector Nirmal Mishra said that the road belongs to the block and they have to provide the necessary permission.
He, however, confirmed that there is an alternative road for people's commute.


Himalaya Opticals opens outlet in city
Rourkela: Himalaya Optical has set up an exclusive outlet at Rourkela.
The opening witnessed an interactive session about the state-of-the-art eye care services brought to Rourkela by Himalaya Optical with one of the most proficient optometrists of Kolkata, Ajay Kr Boothra.
Among others, Sarat Binani, MD, Himalaya Optical and model Tilottama Dutta were present.
The celebrations included launch of Himalaya Optical’s Fall winter collection.
The collection was launched by Binani and Dutta.
The fall winter collection 2009 includes the launch of new styles and shapes from some of the most renowned fashion brands of the world.


  State transport sector hard hit by recession
Bhubaneswar:  The Bhubaneswar Goods Transport Association has urged the state government to provide a bail out package for the road transport sector which is reeling under the impact of recession.
Briefing newsmen here, president Niranjan Praharaj and other members of the Association said that like the aviation sector, the road transport sector stands crippled by the recession on the one hand and rising costs on the other.
There is urgent need to introduce a special bail out package for the truck owners by providing easy finance by banks at concessional rate of interest and reduction of various taxes.
If the government fails to respond, transport operators will be forced to agitated, they said.
Raising certain issues, Praharaj urged the state government to set up a truck terminal at Bhubaneswar.
The annual national permit fee should be rolled back from Rs 5000 to its earlier charge of Rs 1500, the state government should withdraw toll tax, he added.
The Association members pointed out that transport industry is second only to agriculture in providing employment but does not get any subsidy and concessional interest loan like farmers from the government.
It is time that the government wakes up to the problems faced by the sector, they said.


Oil refinery Union to help aged people
Paradip: The East India Oil Refinery Workers' Union would pay monthly allowance to the aged and physically-handicapped land losers besides providing jobs to the land loser-farmers, Union president Santosh Patnaik said.
So far, the Union has helped providing jobs to 290 land losers who have lost their lands for the oil refinery.
It has extended its full cooperation for early completion of the refinery.
However, another Union has been formed with the help of some of political leaders and local vested interest people for their selfish ends.
It is trying to create hurdles in the progress of the construction works.
This Union is forcing the refinery management to employ people ignoring the locals, who lost their lands, Patnaik alleged.


Minor millets cultivation to be revived in Balangir
Balangir: Farmers of Balangir district are all set to revive the cultivation of minor millet crops namely Kudo, Mandia and Gurjee that require less chemical fertilizers and water, ensuring food security of poor and marginalized farmers’ community.
Minor millets like Kudo, Gurjee and Mandia are grown in the Att land of the district.
It requires less fertilisers, pesticides and water and grows well in the Att land.
Farmers require very small investment for cultivation of these crops.
The production of these minor millets helps to feed the poor farmers during the food stress period of a year in the month of July, August and September.
With the introduction of high-yielding variety crops which requires heavy water, chemical fertilisers and insecticides, this important crop has been put in the back burner and has been neglected.
This low-cost indigenously available important crop, which ensures food security of poor farmers and help them to adapt to the climate change, should be revived.
A tie-up with Gene Campaign, New Delhi headed by eminent scientist Suman Sahai is to be taken up soon, informed the Regional Manager of ActionAid, Amarjyoti Nayak while addressing the members of Samuhik Marudi Pratikar Udyam, a network of CBO (community based organization) and NGOs at Balangir recently.
Under this programme, farmers' club would be formed in the villages.
Besides, they would also be trained about seed preservation and production and storage, he said.
Even as this district produces huge quantity of non-timber forest produce (NTFP) like mahul, char, broomstick, etc yet the poor farmers don't get the announced remunerative prices and they have to sell the produce at distress rate.
The Samuhik Marudi Pratikar Udyam decided to prevent the distress and underrate sale of mahul, char, broomstick and other NTFPs in the forthcoming season.
Besides, the meet also decided to take up other issues like child migration, sustainable agriculture and proper implementation of NREGA and different food rights schemes in the district.


Lean Manufacturing Scheme: State to have three clusters
Balasore: The North Odisha Chamber of Commerce and Industry (NOCCI) organized an awareness programme on 'Lean Manufacturing Competitiveness Scheme for MSME Sector' here in association with the National Productivity Council (NPC).
The programme involving all active industries of Balasore was inaugurated by senior president of Emami Paper Mills MBS Nair.
NOCCI president Devasish Mohanty and vice-president of Birla Tyres PK Mitra were among those who spoke on the occasion.
Head of the State Productivity Council RK Padhy elaborated the provisions of the scheme, deputy manager of Emami Paper CP Bhartia and Bijay Ram Deo narrated their experiences in implementing such schemes in their respective organisations.
The objective of the programme was to create awareness about being competitive through various tools of cost savings and form a cluster of eight to 12 industries to avail benefits by becoming cost-competitive.
In his speech, Bhartiya said that inducing good management practices, increase in manufacturing output, reduction in customer complaints, better and improved adherence to delivery schedule, reduction in quality rejection at every stage of production process and making the cluster world-class in terms of competitiveness were the objectives of the scheme.
The scheme is being implemented in clusters spread across the country, he informed.
The speakers observed that the cost-cutting sometime results in elimination of essential assets like man and machine causing loss of production.
Thus, cost-competitiveness, a different approach, deals with reduction in waste of materials, operations, stocks, functionality systems and achieving a faster production with reduced cost.
They said lean manufacturing evolved out of lean thinking, the antidote to waste.
Waste specifically means any activity which absorbs resources but creates no value.
To become competitive, the level of intolerance to any type of non-value added activities in the organization need to be reduced and a culture to foster identification, quantification and elimination of non-value added activities needs to be nurtured.
Initially, in the pilot phase, it would be implemented in 100 mini clusters, and depending on its success, it would be extended to more clusters.
The 100 clusters have been selected for the implementation of the scheme as pilot ones. Three clusters for Odisha- polymer cluster of Balasore, granite cluster of Berhampur and handicraft cluster of Khurda- have been chosen for the implementation of the scheme, sources mentioned.
The NOCCI has taken initiative for implementing the scheme for the Balasore cluster.
The Centre intends to give all support to the selected areas such as Balasore to create excellence in the manufacturing sector when the IIUS (industrial infrastructure upgradation scheme) project implementation is in the offing in the district with a capital outlay of around Rs 80 crore to create world-class industrial infrastructure, observed NOCCI Debasis Mohanty.


Apartments
Bhubaneswar: Assotech BEBL Infrastructure Pvt Ltd has announced the launch of ‘Elegante-4BR+ premium apartments’ and ‘Stella’- the serviced apartments.
The success of its earlier projects has prompted the company to launch its Phase-III project, a company release said.

Bajaj Allianz launches tax campaign
Bhubaneswar: Premiere insurance company Bajaj Allianz on Saturday announced the launch of its innovative ‘Tax Campaign’ here.
A hi-tech van branded as Tax Emergency Van will travel across the city to disseminate information on tax planning.
Through the hi-tech van equipped with all the resources for solving tax related queries on the spot, Bajaj Allianz intends to reach out to as many people in the city as possible to help them resolve tax-related issues and create awareness about the urgency of tax planning.
The van will also visit IT Parks and office complexes, where ‘Tax Emergency Kiosks’ will be set up for employees of the respective organisations.
Briefing newsmen here, company’s senior regional manager, (South Odisha) Debabrata Panini said that the hi-tech van is equipped with LCDs; online tax calculator, real-life case studies; tax consultants and a policy servicing desk to provide an end-to-end solution to tax planning.
It is a kind of ‘meet-save-smile’ approach to tax planning, he added.


Holidays affect port functioning
Paradip: The closure of the Central government offices from Friday till December 28 has made things difficult for people, particularly the business community.
The offices of Customs and Income Tax, being part of the Central government, are closed at different ports of the country including Paradip and Gopalpur.
The exporters and importers can not process their papers on these four days at both these ports affecting the exports and imports partially.
Most of the importers and exporters have finished their paper works till December 24 before the beginning of the holiday.
Few of the business houses who could not finish the work before the holidays were sufferers.
While December 25 was a holiday for Christmas, December 26 and 27 are normal weekend holidays being Saturday and Sunday.
December 28 has been declared for a holiday for Muharram.


Change in norms for loading of iron ore in ships likely soon
Paradip: The sinking of the Black Rose ship at Paradip could usher in a change in the norms of loading of iron ore cargo in ships at various ports, if the recommendations of the High Power Committee are accepted by the ministry of shipping.
The committee has suggested a slew of measures.
Under the new recommendations, iron ore cargo will be loaded on to the ships that are certified as bulk carriers at all Indian ports.
Besides, ships more than 25 years old will not be allowed to load iron ore.
A ban has been recommended on loading of iron ore during the monsoon, as it was done previously also.
Certified testing laboratories are to carry out moisture test of moisture and TML.
The port has to ensure that the cargo is seaworthy as per the international code.
Ships have to be inspected after the cargo is loaded by the Mercantile Marine Department (MMD) to issue clearance for sailing of the ship.
It may be mentioned that a High Power Committee was constituted by the shipping ministry which is headed by chairman of National and Shipping Board Capt PVK Mohan to investigate the reasons behind the sinking of the two ships, Asian Forest at New Mangalore in July, 2009 and Black Rose in September at Paradip.
In the meantime, the Odisha High Court, in response to a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) has directed the Odisha government to to conduct an inquiry.
The inquiry is presently being conducted by the state Crime Branch whose officials had visited Paradip on December 23 to gather information.
As the owners, charterers and the vessel operators are absconding, the investigating team might visit Mongolia, to which the ill-fated ship belonged to.


Angul-Talcher belt among top 10 most polluted cities
Angul: The Angul-Talcher belt has been placed among the top 10 most polluted urban areas of the country and these areas are not fit for any further industrialisation.
Releasing a report on ‘Comprehensive environmental assessment of industrial clusters’ prepared by IIT-Delhi along with the Central Pollution Control Board, in New Delhi recently, Union environment minister Jairam Ramesh said that many of these areas have already exhausted their capacities for further growth.
The Centre is also considering putting on hold new approvals in the 10 polluted hotspots till their environmental health is restored.
A group of scientists of IIT-Delhi and CPCB conducted the study and assessed all available data on issues like water and air pollution, biodiversity conservation, land degradation, ecological damage and waste management.
Now, in the Angul-Talcher area, polluting industries like aluminium and thermal power plants, coalmines and sponge iron plants are operating.
Even after this, the Centre has allowed as many as eight more mega power plants and steel mills, besides 12 coal mines in the area.
Moreover, the government has also allowed expansion projects of various industries.
Even Navratna PSU Nalco and proposed Maharatna NTPC are allegedly violating pollution norms.
Taking strong exception to the gross apathy of Nalco towards time-bound action for management of fly ash, the Odisha State Pollution Control Board has warned the company that it would be constrained to issue closure notice of its thermal power units. Nalco is operating a power plant which is generating 8,000 MT of ash per day.
This amount of fly-ash needs to be disposed of properly, but things are not up to mark, experts said.
The ash-pond number 1 is getting its dyke raised from 104 metre to 107 metre. The capacity of the pond seems to be almost exhausted.
The local Citizens’ Action Forum at an emergency meeting expressed its concern over the serious situation and urged the Odisha governmentnot to allow any further industrialisation and mining activities in the Angul-Talcher-Dhenknal area, to prevent it from reaching the top of the pollution list in India.


Transporters’ body demands bailout package
Bhubaneswar: The Bhubaneswar Goods Transport Association has urged the state government to select the proposed truck terminal site to the construction of infrastructure to make use of the facilities of the end users.
In a release, Association president Niranjan Praharaj said that the terminal can be taken up in the PPP mode, if suitable decision is taken by the state government and land is allocated away from the city limits.
He said that the Association has already placed their demand for a goods transport truck terminal, to ease out congestion inside the city and earn revenue for Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation.
The Expressways have been developed with the money collected through cess on fuel purchased and as transport industry is running in losses therefore the imposition of toll tax is against their business interest.
Therefore, the government should come out with a bail out package for the transport industry, he demanded.
He also spoke against the imposition of service tax on the transporters and demanded amendment of the Carriers Act of 1865, when bullock carts were used for transport of goods.
Praharaj also urged the need of introducing a special bail-out package for the truck owners by providing easy finance from banks, lower rate of interest and longer repayment period.
The new office-bearers of the Association were also elected.
Niranjan Praharaj was elected as president and Sangram Das as vice-president, general secretary RN Nayak, joint secretary-I Jajati Pradhan, joint secretary-II Pramod Kumar Pani, treasurer BD Rout, joint treasurer Nabaghana Mohanty.


MCL inks MoU with NIC
Sambalpur: Mahanadi Coalfields Limited (MCL) has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding with the National Informatics Centre Services Incorporated (NICSI) and the National Informatics Centre for e-procurement services to the MCL on a long-term basis.
The MoU was signed at the MCL headquarters here on Tuesday by NIC Deputy Director General Dr Kashinath, NICSI Managing Director JRD Kailay and MCL Director, Project & Planning, AK Singh in the presence of MCL CMD Shree Ramjee Upadhyay and NIC Director, Odisha, SK Panda.
Among others, MCL director, (finance) Balabhadra Mohapatra, Director Technical/Operation AK Tiwari and Chief Vigilance Officer NK Pradhan, NIC (Chennai) Senior Technical Director KS Raghvan, NICSI DGM Rajeev Chauhan, Technical Director & Head of e-Procurement Division, NIC, Odisha AK Hota and District Informatics Officer, Sambalpur RP Das, superintending engineer (civil) Om Prakash Mishra and project manager (e-procurement) SK Bhanja were present.
Speaking on this occasion, MCL CMD informed that his company has started e-procurement since August 15 for all the works and services valuing Rs 10 lakh and above.
Now, since the e-procurement system has been stabilised, the same has been made mandatory for all the tenders valuing Rs 2 lakh and above, he said.
Kailay informed that this is the first MoU of the NIC with any public sector undertaking and this association has done a value addition to the government e-procurement portal, a product of the NIC.
Mohapatra informed about the benefits of e-procurement in terms of reduction in cycle time of procurement and reduction of price.
This would attract the bidders of the grassroots level, he added.


IUSF-2009 from today
Paradip: For the first time, IFFCO’s Paradip unit is going to host Inter Unit Sports Festival-2009 (IUSF-2009) from December 25 to 29 at Paradip.
Selected players in athletics and different indoor games from all units of IFFCO including Kalol, Kandla, Phulpur, Aonla and Paradip will participate.
The sports personnel of the marketing and head office division will also take part in this mega event.
Nearly 400 sportspersons will take part in the festival.
IFFCO MD Dr US Awasthi will inaugurate the festival.
All events will be held in the newly constructed sports ground.
IFFCO Chairman Surinder Kumar Jakhar will preside over the closing ceremony.
A host of cultural programmes will also be held in the evening.
IFFCO Paradip had bagged first position in cricket and second position in volleyball in IUSF-2008 held in IFFCO’s Kandla unit.


HAL celebrates foundation day
Sunabeda: The 69th Foundation Day of HAL was celebrated here at Bhanja Mandap. HAL GM (Engine Division) Ashok Kumar Aseri paid homage to the founders of the MIG aircraft, Satwel Chand and Hari Chand by lighting a lamp and garlanding the portrait of the founders.
AGM KC Nanda Ch Venketeswar Rao, Malaya Dey, NC Satpathy were present.
The guests spoke on their experiences on how to improve HAL.
The other highlights of the programme were a cultural function.
A total of 493 employees have been felicitated, said programme manager SC Chand.



Mining only in non-forest area: Tata Steel
Bhubaneswar: Tata Steel, in response to the recent notice of the DFO of Keonjhar to stop all mining activities in its lease area of Katamati iron ore mines alleging that the forest and non-forest areas have not been demarcated in the field, has stated that the company has clarified to the Odisha government that it was mining only in the non-forest area of the lease.
In a release here on Wednesday, the company said that the forest and non-forest areas of the lease have been clearly demarcated in the field that has been verified by the forest officials and authenticated in the maps.
The ministry of environment and forests has also given its go-ahead to the company to continue its mining operation in the non-forest area, the release added.


Nalco coal crisis: Workers’ unions demand CBI probe
Angul: Acute shortage of coal has further aggravated the situation in Nalco on Wednesday with only less than 30,000 MT of the stock left for the captive power plant at here.
Without arranging this most important raw material, the management recently operated 240 new pots at the smelter plant.
Now, nobody knows what will happen next as all directors of the company, including the CMD, have left for Delhi to attend the Board meeting scheduled for Thursday.
Almost all top officials could not be contacted.
After operation of 960 pots, Nalco needs more coal to continue production of power.
The top management has not allowed local suppliers to supply coal despite the crisis.
The local executive director posted and the general manager of CPP are also absent.
In such a situation, some coal mafias are allegedly meeting a section of Nalco officials to do their business at a very high rate.
Alleging it as a manmade crisis, both the recognized workers’ unions of Nalco strongly criticised the management for the crisis.
In a statement, general secretary of Nalco Employees’ Sangh Nirmal Samal and general secretary of Nalco Non-Executive Employees’ Union Amar Behera demanded a CBI probe into the alleged coal scam and immediate action against the concerned officials.


IIL to boost market in state
Bhubaneswar:: Insecticides (India) Ltd (IIL) will focus on Odisha with a target to achieve 10 per cent of the share in the state’s market and strengthen its brands of Lethal, Lethal Super, Thimet, Milchlor, Eurozyme and Victor.
Presently, IIL has done a total business of Rs 7 crore in the state.
According to IIL managing director Rajesh Aggarwal, the company attained a turnover of Rs 300 crore during the last fiscal.
With an expected growth of 40 per cent, IIL plans to cross Rs 425 crore this year.
The total market size of agrochemicals industry in Odisha is estimated at Rs 100 crore. The company now has 30 distributors and over 900 dealers in the state.


Vedanta felicitates power lifter
Bhubaneswar: Vedanta Alumina felicitated the State junior Powerlifter Pradip Patra at Utkal Karate School here on Wednesday.
Patra who bagged gold medal and lifted total 580 kg won the medal in over all 60 kg category.
He lifted 215 kg in squat, 125 kg in bench-press and 240 kg in deadlift also created a new meet record.
Patra also grabbed the junior strong man title in the Commonwealth Powerlifting Championship that concluded at Pune in Maharashtra on December 13.


OSL family meet held
Cuttack: Odisha Stevedores Limited (OSL), which has made significant advancement in the country in stevedoring, in order to promote a bond among its employees, organized a family meet at the Delhi Public School Kalinga at Adhalia.
A two-day cricket match was held with eight teams participating, witnessed by all employees.
Similarly, a badminton tournament was also held. On the evening of the second day, prizes were given.
Employees serving over 15 years were felicitated with a shawl.
OSL MD Mahimananda Mishra who became emotional at the meet, said that it was matter of pride that we are here together.
Ganesh Prasad Khandoi, social worker Biswanath Mishra, Prasanna Panigrahi, Gokuli Mohapatra and others present felicitated the employees.


Nalco expansion project faces 9-months delay
Bhubaneswar:  The Rs 4,402-crore expansion project of aluminium major National Aluminium Company will be delayed by about 9 months because of the naxal attack at Damanjodi mines in Koraput district early this year that brought construction work to a standstill.
Construction work at alumina refinery came to a stand still after the Naxal attack in April at Damanjodi.
While the contractors have resumed work, the commissioning of the alumina refinery will be delayed by about 9 months, Nalco director (finance) B L Bagra said.
As part of its Rs 4,402-crore second-phase expansion project, Nalco is in the process of augmenting the annual production capacity of its alumina refinery from 1.57 million tonnes to 2.1 million tonnes.
It had planned to start commercial production of the expanded refinery from June 2010, but now it would be done in March 2011.
However, the work is on full swing for expanding the annual production capacity of bauxite mines, aluminium smelter, and captive power plants, he said.
Nalco, in the second phase of the expansion programme, plans to take the annual production of its bauxite mines to 63 lakh tonnes from the present 48 lakh tonnes, output of its aluminium smelter to 4.60 lakh tonnes from present 3.45 lakh tonnes, by next year.
It has a present installed capacity of 960 MW, which will be expanded to 1200 MW in the next fiscal.
With an aim to loot explosives used at the mining site by Nalco, naxals attacked the PSU's establishment in Damanjodi, killing as many as 11 CISF personnel.
Nalco had suffered an immediate production loss of one lakh tonnes of bauxite from the mines due to the naxal attack.
During normal course of mining, Nalco workers dig out 12,000 to 15,000 tonnes of bauxite from the Panchpatimali mines a day, which is used to produce nearly 4,000 tonnes of alumina and 1,000 tonnes of aluminium.
The attack also instilled fear among the miners and the contractors involved in the expansion work to resume work immediately.
On the advice of the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), Nalco has now augmented security system at its naxal infested mines, a senior mines ministry official said.


Phase II expansion: NINL seeks fund
Bhubaneswar:Managing director of Neelachal Ispat Nigam Limited (NINL) PC Sahu has expressed happiness about the future of the country’s largest pig-iron producer and exporter as the public-sector company is expecting infusion of more funds for the proposed phase-II expansion of its plant.
The phase-II expansion includes commissioning of a steel melting shop, a continuous casting shop, a laddle furnace, a billet caster, a rolling mill and other auxiliary facilities.
Development of NINL’s captive iron ore mines having a reserve of 150 million tonne is also included in the expansion plan.
NINL is an integrated steel plant jointly promoted by MMTC, and IPICOL, a flagship company of the Odisha government.
In order to improve sustainability of the operations and allow value addition to the company’s production process, the expansion project is being undertaken, said the Managing Director in his letter to the state government.
SBI Caps has done the project appraisal, said sources.
For the proposed expansion, NINL needs Rs 1,855 crore, including Rs 300 crore for development of its mines.
While the expansion would be funded with 1,112-crore loan form banks and other financial institutions, the rest Rs 743 crore is to be funded through equity contribution and internal accruals, said the sources.
Hence, NINL is seeking infusion of funds from its promoters to meet the expansion requirements.
Its principal promoter, MMTC, has been requested to provide Rs 180.70 crore.
The Odisha government has been urged to place Rs 95.43 crore out of the untied equity portion of Rs 363 crore through IPICOL or OMC or any other Public Sector Undertaking, said the sources.
Both IPICOL and OMC have 26.29 per cent of share in NINL and they have been approached by NINL for fund infusion.
The state government would take a call on the issue soon, sources close to a director representing the state government, said.


PPT posts highest coal traffic growth
Mumbai: Cargo volumes in Indian ports expanded 13 percent in November at 48.2 million tonnes as against 42.5 million tonnes in the year-ago period, mainly powered by iron and coal cargo traffic.
Cargo traffic also grew 3.4 percent in November over the previous month.
December is likely to witness a marginal growth due to Christmas and New Year, for which orders have already been despatched to foreign countries. But the volume growth has not been substantial, a top official of the Indian Ports Association (IPA) said. November witnessed the second-highest monthly cargo traffic since April 2008.
Driven by a 41 percent growth in coal traffic, the Paradip Port in Odisha witnessed the highest growth year-on-year at 43 percent, followed by Chennai Port at 27 percent, where increase in container traffic pushed growth.
Overall, 12 ports registered a cargo traffic growth in November with Visakhapatnam posting a 19 percent and Mumbai an 18 percent growth.
Solid cargo constituted 50 percent of the total cargo at major ports followed by liquid cargo (32 percent) and containers (18 percent), according to IPA data.
Three ports on the east coast- Chennai, Tuticorin and Kolkata- posted a growth in container traffic, while JNPT’s container traffic declined by 4.4 percent in the year-to-date FY 10 period.
JNPT is in close proximity to Mumbai.
The four ports cumulatively account for 57.8 million tonnes (89 percent) of the total container traffic in the country, the data said.


Port, dock workers protest over wage
Paradip: All India Five Port and Dock Workers’ Federation on Tuesday staged a demonstration in front of the administrative office of Paradip Port Trust (PPT) demanding wage negotiation.
However, the demonstration was called off following assurances by the port authorities that the demands would be considered in a meeting with Bipartite Wage Negotiation Committee (BWNC).
The Federation, which comprises of Intuc, AITUC, Citu, HMS and HMS (workers), however, threatened to intensify the agitation from 4 January if its demands are not addressed by the Centre by then.
The payment of arrears of allowances to workers is pending since January 2007, the agitators alleged.
As many as 23 meetings have been conducted in these three years since negotiations first started, the mater is yet to be sorted out, they added.
The Federation is also opposing the management's proposal of a minimum monthly pay of Rs 7,500 as against Rs 8,200 negotiated at a meeting convened by the Union shipping minister in early September.
It has, however, agreed to a 23 per cent wage hike over basic pay instead of the 34 per cent demanded earlier by them, sources said.


CII donates books to four state varsities
Bhubaneswar:  The Confederation of Indian Industry, under its social development activities, in association with The Asia Foundation, would distribute 8,431 books free of cost mostly at the university level, to eight universities and five reputed institutes in the country’s eastern region.
In Odisha, four universities, Utkal, Fakir Mohan, North Odisha and Biju Patnaik University of Technology, and the Gandhi Institute for Technological Advancement (GITA) would receive 3,242 books.
On Tuesday, the CII held a meeting here where Past Chairman, CII Odisha State Council Dr SK Tamotia handed over specimen copies to the heads and representatives of the four universities and GITA.
BPUT Vice-Chancellor Dr Omkarnath Mohanty, Prof Rita Roy of the Utkal University, Deputy Registrar, North Odisha University Dr SK Swain, Development Officer, FM University Dr BB Mahapatra and Vice Principal, GITA Dr D Patnaik represented their institutions.


Uninor launches global GSM services in State
Bhubaneswar:  Uninor on Tuesday announced the launch of its global GSM service in Odisha.
The Uninor GSM service is now available in the nine states.
Uninor customers in Odisha will be on a national mobile network from day one.
With Odisha, we complete the Blue Arc- the Uninor footprint that now sweeps seamlessly through north, east and south India covering the largest states.
This also marks the completion of the first phase of our launch activities, said managing director, Unitech Wireless, Stein-Erik Vellan, here on Tuesday.
In Odisha, Uninor achieved a launch day presence at over 13,762 points of sale ready for customers.
It is our ambition to stay the closest to our customers, said EVP, Odisha for Uninor Akash Das.


Tata Motors launches Grande MK II
Bhubaneswar: Tata Motors on Tuesday launched Grande MK II, an upgraded version of its premium Sumo offering, in the domestic market.
The Grande MK II seeks to deliver added value to customers through substantial changes in the exteriors and interiors combined with improvements in drivability, ride and handling and comfort.


Balasore Alloys bags national award
Balasore: Balasore Alloys, one of the prominent ferroalloys companies in Odisha, has received the prestigious Rajiv Gandhi National Quality Award-2008 that was jointly given by the ministry of consumer affairs and public distribution and the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS).
Balasore Alloys is the first company of the state to receive the prestigious award. Besides, among the ferroalloys companies in the country, Balasore Alloys is the only company to receive the award for the year. This is in fact a proud moment for us that has been possible only due to the active and wholehearted support of all personnel of the company, managing director of the company, Rabindra Jena said.
Along with a citation and sliver plaque, a cash award of Rs 50,000 was given to the company.
The honour was received by Jena from the Union ministers of state for consumer affairs, food and public distribution, BIS vice president KV Thomas and chairman of Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board (P&NGRB), Lalit Mansingh.
This award was conferred to the company in a function held in DRDO Bhawan, New Delhi.
Balasore Alloys is one among the other ten companies to receive the award, informed sources.
While across the country, 104 industrial houses had applied for the award, only 11 companies were selected to receive the award out of 45 short-listed companies.
The BIS under the ministry of consumer affairs has been presenting the award since 1991 to the companies who have achieved excellence in quality.
Among others, senior public relations officer of Balasore Alloys, Sanjay Acharya, deputy manager Sanat Acharya and resident manager Asit Ranjan Das were present.
It may be mentioned that while Balasore Alloys has earned many laurels in the past by achieving several prestigious awards, this award has added another feather to its cap.


IFFCO bags National Energy Conservation Award
Bhubaneswar: Fertilizer major IFFCO Paradip unit added another feather in its cap when Union minister for power Sushil Kumar Shinde conferred the National Energy Conservation Award-2009 on it at a conference in New Delhi recently.
IFFCO executive director MR Patel, who received the prestigious award expressed satisfaction over the continuous improvement in the performance of the Paradip unit. Besides achieving an all-time high production of 13 lakh tonnes during 2008-09 despite the instability in international price of raw materials, the unit has also started selling its surplus power to GRIDCO from this year.
On the ground of non-compliance of the environmental norms, the plant was almost closed for a long period.
The company management took up the challenge of revamping and renovating the huge complex having the world’s largest phosphoric acid plant.



Parliamentary panel to visit Nalco before Budget meet
Bhubaneswar:Parliamentary advisory committee for the ministry of Mines would visit the Nalco plant before the Budget Session of Parliament beginning from February next, informed Rajya Sabha member and advisory committee member Rudra Narayan Pany in New Delhi on Monday.
He said that it in the meeting held under the chairmanship of Union minister of mines BK Handiq.
Sambalpur MP and committee member Amarnath Pradhan, Union mines secretary Shantashila Nayar, Nalco CMD AK Srivastav and other senior officials of the ministry and directors of Nalco were present at the meeting.
Pany and other MPs cautioned Nalco officials of its competitor Vedanta.
In reply to an un-starred question, the finance minister said that there would be no disinvestment of Nalco.
Pany said it would be difficult to compete with private companies on a level playing field and special attention has to be given to the work culture of Nalco.
It was unfortunate that the State Government was not holding the RPDAC meeting, he added.
Before January-February, the committee would tour the Nalco plant site at Angul and Damonjodi.


Nalco operates 240 new pots despite coal crisis
Angul: Even though the coal stock available in Nalco to run its power plant here for only three days, the management is operating 240 new pots in the plant two days back to comply with the prime minister’s 100-day-work programme and to complete its ongoing expansion project, the management has functioned 240 new pots.
Before expansion project Nalco had got 720 pots.
Now, after operation of 960 pots, 850 MW power is required and for which Nalco needs at least 17 thousand metric tonne coal per day.
But now, including domestic and imported coal, Nalco has got only around 50 thousand MT coal to run the power plant only for three days.
To meet its power crises Nalco is purchasing 60 MW power at very high rates. In this circumstance, operation of another 240 new pots has doubled the crisis.
Practically, the coal crisis in Nalco is going on since last eight years.
Nalco has no captive coal mines.
To meet the crisis, the Centre has allotted Utkal-E coal block to Nalco at Chhendipada.
However, the Nalco management has intentionally delayed the coal mine project with ulterior motive to procure coal from outside.
Due to this prolonged delay, the ministry of coal has served notice to de-allocate coal mines from Nalco.
In such circumstances, some top officials who have hatched this conspiracy have successfully created a coal crisis in Nalco and purchased coal from outside costing at least four times the coal supplied by the MCL.
To meet this man-made coal crisis, Nalco has imported coal from outside of the country. As the Nalco plant is not designed for using of this imported coal, Nalco blended it with the local coal in 1:10 ratio.
The Nalco management also has floated tender to procure 2 lakh MT coal from the domestic market.
Now, after operation of 240 extra pots more coal will be procured at a high rate from the domestic market.
Without giving a real picture of the plant crisis to the ministry, the management, moreover few top officials in-charge of it, are working day and night to procure coal from outside.
Without required coal stock and when the company is purchasing coal from outside in very high rate and 60 MW power also in high rate, the intention of the management to operate another 240 new pots has created hue and cry amongst all.
When the LME price of aluminium is increasing day by day, the management is not using this opportunity to stabilise the company by using cost effective methods of production.
The present coal crisis which has destabilised the company and created an uncertain atmosphere, few Nalco officials with collision with private coal suppliers are contributing a lot to the possible disaster course for the company.
Meanwhile, the Citizens’ Action Forum, in a letter to the prime minister and Union minister of coal has demanded a CBI inquiry into the coal scam of Nalco which has laid to acute crisis for the Navaratna Company.
Chairman of the forum Santi Bardhan Mishra, in his letter named few officials and demanded immediate action against them to save the public sector.


Workers’ union up in arms against Birla Tyres
Balasore: Workers under the banner of the Birla Tyres Workers’ Union, on Monday staged a rally here against the local management of the Birla Tyres unit and threatened to agitate inside the plant premises on December 26.
Although we are the recognised union following the elections in December last year, the plant management neither recognised us nor invited us for any kind talks till date. Besides, the authorities here have been committing gross irregularities flouting the norms of labour laws.
Despite our approaches to all concerned, including the district administration and labour department, we couldn’t get any relief. Hence, we have decided to agitate this time inside the plant premises on December 26, said president of the union Rajendra Bal.
When the management is inviting the unions to have discussions though they hardly have presence (in the plant), as proved in the last elections, it is ignoring us. In fact, the management should invite us for any kind of discussion as per the VMRTU (verification of membership of registered trade union) 94 rule. Under a conspiracy, the management in connivance with some local leaders is trying to destabilise our union, Bal alleged.
Later, the workers handed over a memorandum with a 10-point charter of demands to the district administration.
The demands included due recognition to the union by the management, compensation of Rs 11 lakh and permanent service to one of the members of the families of deceased an handicapped workers under the rehabilitation scheme, scrutiny of all company documents including financial returns and taxes under various heads, settlement of PF, ESI and other disputes as per law, replacement of old machineries and equipments that cause accidents, contribution out of the company’s profit for local area development, employment strictly as per rule, deregistration of the unions hardly having presence after verifying the memberships and reinstatement of workers suspended and retrenched by the company.


S Tel launches mobile service
Bhubaneswar: S Tel Private Ltd, a joint venture of Siva Group and BMIC Ltd, on Monday launched its services in major towns and 3,000 villages in Odisha.
In a press briefing here on Monday, director S Tel and president of Siva Group P Swaminathan said that with the number of mobile users expected to double by 2015, we are witnessing an exciting phase in telecom growth.
Amongst the new telecom operators, S Tel is the fastest to roll out services with the best network in town, he added.
The company launched two most preferred tariff plans which will charge the consumer at one paisa per second and 50 paisa per minute both for STD and local calls.

 

Handloom, handicraft show begins
Puri: Special commissioner-cum-secretary, textiles and handloom Arti Ahuja on Monday inaugurated the Special Handloom Expo and Odisha Handicrafts, organised by the Boyanika, at Neelachal Urban Haat here.
The exhibition would continue till January 4.
Primary Cooperative Weavers Societies from all over the state are participating in this event.
The traditional concept of marketing has changed during recent times and Boyanika is exploring new horizons in future.
The state, famous for its handloom depends on its preservation, promotion and progress on successful marketing.
Exhibitions provide a platform for the weavers to showcase their products under one roof. Boyanika, the only apex society in the handloom sector is providing marketing support to the weavers by organising exhibitions every year at Bhubaneswar and Puri.


Tata Indicom launches new schemes
Bhubaneswar:Tata Indicom has launched a ‘Pay Per Second’ combined with an exclusive ‘3 on 3’ bonus scheme for customers in Odisha.
The offer is open to existing as well as potential prepaid customer for all local and STD calls.
All existing customers can recharge their number with an STV of Rs 53 to start availing the offer, while all potential customers need to combine the new connection with a starter kit of Rs 99.


Reliance Big TV new installation offer
Bhubaneswar: Digital DTH service provider, Reliance Big TV, has announced the year end Dhamaka.
The scratch and win offer can be availed to win gifts such as free subscriptions and discounts on installation of Reliance Big TV.
The offer is effective till 31 December across the country, company sources here said.


Nakshatra jewelry showroom opened in city
Bhubaneswar:Renowned jewelry company Nakshatra Universe opened its showroom in the city here on Monday.
Gracing as a guest on the occasion, Bollywood actyress Urvashi Sharma interacted with customers.
The showroom located in the heart of the city brings the existing and the new range of jewellery of Nakshatra under one roof.
Speaking on the occasion, National Franchise Sales Manager of Nakshatra Vikram Bhatt said, ‘We are very happy to offer our customers a chance to meet Urvashi and a unique place to experience the entire brand offering.’

 

Rights panel seeks report on polluting chemical unit
Bhubaneswar: The Odisha State Human Rights Commission (OSHRC) has sought a report from the Dhenkanal Collector regarding pollution by Divyajyoti Chemicals Private Limited at Kanakhai village in Bhuban block of Dhenkanal district, engaged in manufacturing of chromic acid (sodium dichromate).
In response to a complaint by Rama Chandra Sahu of the village committee with the help of advocate Sankar Prasad Pani, the Commission registered as case and sought a report from district collector on August 21.
Subsequently, the collector has taken stock of the situation in presence of Odisha State Pollution Control Board (OSPCB), sub collector, Bhuban tehsildar, company representatives and villagers.
The next hearing will be held on December 24.


Ships arrive at Paradip
Paradip: A few months after the Paradip Port ceased to face berth congestion, the port has now received as many as 25 ships, which are waiting at the anchorage for berthing. The port is also expecting 25 more vessels by the end of this month.
This is a positive sign in the growth of the port, said the Paradip Port Trust (PPT) in a release.
PPT has handled a total cargo of 39.1 million tonnes of cargo till mid-December, surpassing the volume of 31 million tonnes during corresponding period of the last financial year of 2008-2009.
The port could have fared still better but for the slump in iron ore exports, failure of the SPM operations of the Indian Oil Corporation Ltd to perform as per assurance for its crude oil imports and diversion of some ships to the neigbouring ports during the congestion of mid-2009.


Saving for child education priority of parents: Report
Bhubaneswar: Aviva India on Friday unveiled a research report on the savings habits of young parents in Bhubaneswar- Aviva Young Scholar Insights- compiled by IMRB.
Out of the people surveyed across the city, 49 per cent mentioned that planning for a child’s future takes priority over retirement and protection.
For 86 per cent of parents, school education is indicated as the key trigger for savings for their children and takes precedence over marriage.
This has perpetuated urgency among parents to combat the rising cost of education by investing early, as evidenced by 57 per cent parents beginning to invest before the child turned three years old.
Briefing newsmen here, Aviva Life Insurance Director (sales and distribution) Munish Sharda said that as the survey suggests, parents in Bhubaneswar believe education is insurance to secure a brighter future for their children.
This is also clearly indicated by the growing concern among parents to combat the rising cost of education.
At Aviva, our focus is to minimize the financial constraints of parents to ensure best education for their children.
Aviva Young Scholar Insights encompassed 10 cities- Lucknow, Delhi, Kolkata, Bhubaneswar, Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Hyderabad, Bangalore, Kochi and Chennai, with a sample size of 2,250 parents.


PPL denies report on compensation to farmers
Bhubaneswar:  Referring to a report in a city-based national daily that the PPL-displaced farmers to get pending dues, the Paradip Phosphates Limited (PPL) on Friday came up with a clarification that there was no decision on payment of compensation at the agreed enhanced rates and release of payment by January 4, 2010 to the land-loser farmers as reported.
It also said that it has complied with the orders of the Odisha High Court for land compensation.
It is not a fact that PPL did not consider implementation of any order as reported.
The subject matter of discussions at a recent meeting related to claims beyond court orders on the matter.
The company further said the rates per acre of land purchased vary from village to village, area to area, kisam to kisam and therefore there was no generality in respect of compensation amount paid. No amount of ex-gratia payment has been agreed yet.
Actual land losers who have not received compensation so far nor have claims higher and justifiable compensation have not still been identified, the company said in a release.


Nicco Industries to be reopened soon
Rairangpur: The deadlock over the closure of Nicco Industries seems to be over after the meeting held at the office of the sub collector here on Thursday.
The meeting was attended by sub collector Batakrushna Dehuri, labour officer Amaresh Biswal, Baripada MLA Sananda Marandi, Baripada municipal chairman and the labour union leaders and management of Nicco Industries along with the district labour officer.
It was unconditionally agreed that Nicco Industries would open and after three months of its peaceful functioning the demands of the union would be taken up before the labour authorities.
The management on December 26, with all details would intimate the administration on the date of the opening of the industry and hold a tri-partite meeting on December 29 on the opening of the industry.
Among others, state Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh unit president Pratap Chandra Panda, state secretary Nigamananda Pattnaik, district secretary Rati Ranjan Behera and Nicco Industries Workers Union president Prasanta Kumar Jena were present on the occasion.


SBI Internet banking inaugurated
Phulbani: Internet banking facilities at main branch of State Bank of India here were inaugurated by Mrs Jyoshnamadhu Jamkhandi, general manager, networking-II, SBI recently.
Lauding the effort of the women self-help groups (SHGs), Mrs Jamkhandi said that with consistent support from the banks, they have proved their efficiency in terms of production and re-payments.


JSPL celebrates Vijay Divas
Angul: Jindal Steel & Power Ltd, Angul celebrated the Vijay Diwas to remember the soldiers of the Indian armed forces who laid down their lives fighting for the nation.
It was on December 16, 1971 that the Indian Army, Navy, Air Force and Para-Military forces together achieved a historic victory over the Pakistani forces.
A mini marathon was organized by the security department of the company under the command of head of security Capt Ajit Singh.
It was flagged off by JSPL executive director Rajesh Jha.
Jha, along with DK Sarangi (president), paid homage to the martyrs and expressed gratitude to their families.
Ravinder Singh from security department and Nilamani from among JSPL staff received the first prizes in their respective categories.


Bhusan, Sumitomo ink 2 pacts; may sell 40 pc in WB plant
New Delhi: Secondary steel producer Bhusan Steel on Thursday entered into a technical and marketing agreement with Japan's Sumitomo Metals and is also considering selling up to 40 per cent stake to the foreign partner in its proposed plant in West Bengal.
The company has signed two agreements with Sumitomo Metal Industries. One for technical know-how and another for a marketing tie-up for selling the produce from the Odisha plant, Bhusan Steel managing director Neeraj Singal told reporters here after signing the deal.
Bhusan Steel will commission 2.2-million tonne per annum (MTPA) steel unit in Odisha by next month and plans to ramp up the capacity of this plant to 5 MTPA by October 2012.
Sumitomo, an integrated steel company with presence in both the upstream and downstream areas, aims to rival global firms like ArcelorMittal, JFE steel to sell special steel products from the Odisha unit to Japanese auto-makers like Toyota in India under its own brand.
In West Bengal, Bhusan plans to set up a 6-MTPA plant in two phases and is in talks with Sumitomo to sell up to 40 per cent stake in the proposed unit and is expected to conclude a deal in this regard by mid-2010.
We are in talks to sell 26-40 per cent stake in the proposed plant in West Bengal to Sumitomo which will also help us in part-funding the Rs 20,000-crore first phase of the project, Singal said.
The New Delhi-based Bhusan plans to set up a 3-MTPA unit in the first phase of the West Bengal project at Asansol for which it requires about 2,500 acres.


VAL holds blood donation camp
Lanjigarh: Vedanta Aluminium Limited (VAL) organized a blood donation camp at the Niyamgiri Vedanta Nagar hospital on Wednesday.
A total of 45 units of blood were collected from employees of the company.
VAL Chief Operating Officer Dr Mukesh Kumar inaugurated the camp.
The donated blood will be useful for the poor and needy in Kalahandi district, he said.
Senior management team members, including Associate Vice President (Power Plant) Sunil Chandra Mishra and Head (Finance) TPK Patro also donated blood.
Doctors of District Red Cross Society, Kalahandi, helped in conducting the camp.
The donors were given certificates and identity cards by the Red Cross.


Vanesa launches men’s personal care products in city
Bhubaneswar: Delhi-based company Vanesa INC on Thursday launched the personal care products for the men under the brand name of Denver.
Speaking on the occasion, Vanesa INC general manager Shashi Chhibber here said that as men now feel concerned about their skin and look for products which can nourish the skin, the company has taken the initiative and launched the latest range of skin care products for men which includes hair gels, face wash, after shave and many more products .
We have tried to give best quality in expensive rates, he added.
Among others RSM Debjyoti Mohanty and ASM Sibabrata Dutta were present.

Price of OMFED milk likely to go up
Bhubaneswar:The price of the OMFED milk would be Rs 22 per litre.
In all probability the price hike would be taking place within a month after its approval in the board, informed an official here.
It may be mentioned that before the Assembly elections, former OMFED managing director Hrushikesh Panda had raised the price of milk by Rs 4 per litre and it continued to sell for few days despite widespread resentment.
The state government soon realising that it was caught on a wrong foot just days before the poll, rescinded the price hike and shunted Panda from his post, absolving itself from any hand in the decision.
However, the new OMFED chief Suresh Mahapatra who replaced Panda, restored the status quo, by selling the milk at Rs 20 a litre.
At a press briefing, Mohapatra denied that there were any plans to increase the price of the milk.
When asked about the price printed on the pouch, he said that those were old packets.


Employees’ body suggests tariff hike
Bhubaneswar:Expressing apprehension that Odisha will face a severe power crisis in the coming days, the Nikhil Odisha Bidyut Sramik Mahasangha on Wednesday alleged that the state government, instead of revealing facts to the people, has kept them in the dark.
The Mahasangha claimed that GRIDCO and OPTCL are purchasing power at Rs 3.50 to Rs 5, and selling it at Rs 1.75 to the Disco companies, thereby burdening them with crores of rupees.
If it continues, GRIDCO would soon collapse on the lines of Konark TV, the Mahasangha apprehended.
It is also doubtful if the engineers and the workers would get their salary, they said.
If adequate water would have been collected at the hydro-electric reservoirs, GRIDCO would have received 2,085 MW of electricity, but shortage of water has brought down the electricity production to 85 MW only.
In the thermal power generation sectors, instead of receiving 880 MW, it has received 618 MW.
Out of the captive power generation, Odisha receives only 399 MW and from the Central sector, the State receives 1,282 MW.
The total power received by the GRIDCO is 2,385, with some restrictions.
GRIDCO, thus from November 2 to March 30, 2010 would be spending Rs 140.20 crore to purchase power at a rate of Rs 3.50 and selling it at Rs 1.75 is heading towards a financial crisis.
According to the Electricity Act of 2003, if the SLBC is not made autonomous, the present set up would crumble.
Though the OERC is demanding to free SLBC, but Gridco citing various reasons is dragging its feet over the matter.
Had the SLBC, were left free to decide, the impending power crisis could have been averted, the Mahasangha pointed out.
As government control seems to prevail, SLBC is not competent enough to take decisions on its own, it said, alleging that the state government has been following a faulty policy for the last 10 years, suggesting that as facilities are prevailing, another two power generating units could come up at IB.
The state government has 51 per cent stakes in the IB unit with 49 per cent of the AES an American company.
It is also alleged that the state government is towing the terms set by the AES, and at the government's cost is making crores of rupees by selling power at Rs 10 outside the state. As the government is the bigger stake holder, it should have directed the AES, instead of being directed.
Mahasangha secretary Sarat Chandra Mohanty has demanded immediate aid to the GRIDCO to preventing it from going bankrupt.


Forum seeks steps to reduce CO2 emissions by industries
Bhubaneswar: Eight millennium development goals (MDGs) have been adopted by the international community as a framework for development activities in over 190 countries during the Millennium Summit held on September 6, 2000 at the United Nations Headquarters. India is one of the countries that aim to achieve these goals by 2015.
The Xavier Institute of Management, Bhubaneswar (XIMB) and the UNICEF are convinced that achieving MDGs in Odisha will put India on track to achieving the MDGs.
For this, a state-level Multi-Stakeholder Forum on MDGs consisting of representatives from the government, international agencies, civil society organizations, corporates, academia, political parties and media has been formed to deliberate on the progress of MDGS in Odisha.
The meeting of the forum was held on Tuesday at the XIMB to deliberate on MDG 7: ‘Ensure Environmental Sustainability.’
The meeting also coincided with the Climate Change Conference being held in Copenhagen.
The meeting was inaugurated by local UNICEF chief Shadrack Omol.
A status note and a short video documentary on MDG 7 were presented by Prof S Peppin of the XIMB and Agnita Lazarus, respectively, followed by a panel discussion moderated by Prof C Shambu Prasad of the XIMB.
The forum called for strict legal measures to reduce CO2 emissions by the industries.
The other recommendations that emerged during the discussion were: provide incentives to farmers and communities involved in promoting and protecting environment, promote collaborative production and sharing of information, promote environment-friendly and energy-saving buildings and structures, encourage safe drinking water and sanitation practices on a war-footing and include environmental sustainability in the school curriculum.


PPT to hold marathon on foundation day on Jan 3
Paradip: The Paradip Port Trust (PPT) will hold the 7th Half Marathon on January 3, 2010 on its foundation day.
The event will be flagged off by PPT chairman K Raghuramaiah from Sector-21 covering 21.21 km ending at Gopabandhu Stadium.
Many marathon runners are expected to participate in this annual event.
The race, scheduled to start at 7 AM will end around 9.30 AM, followed by the prize distribution ceremony.
The Paradip Port Sports Council is conducting this programme.
A cash prize of Rs 10,000 will be awarded to the winner, Rs 7,500 for the runners-up and the third prize of Rs 5,000 would be given to both men and women winners.
Besides Rs 3,000 to be given as fourth prize and three fifth prizes of Rs 2,000, to each and three sixth prizes of Rs 1,000 each will also be awarded.
The entry age of participants is 16 years and above.
An entry fee of Rs 50 will be collected from the participants at the time of registration on January 2, 2010.
This was communicated to the Press by Paradip Port Trust president SK Patnaik.
At a press briefing here on Tuesday, Raghuramaiah said that one of the greatest sports personalities of Odisha, Anuradha Biswal will be honoured on this day.
Besides, former Union shipping secretary Ashok Mohapatra will speak on shipping, port and maritime industry on the foundation day, Mohapatra informed.

EUROLEX cookware products launched
Bhubaneswar: Usha Lexus on Tuesday launched pressure cookers and cookware products by the brand name EUROLEX in Odisha.
Speaking on the occasion, company AGM (Sales and Marketing) Rakesh Kumar Sharma said that the superior product quality and support has ensured quick acceptability of the range in the market.
Regional sales manager (East) Umashankar Singh was also present along with assistant sales manager Debasish Rath and super stockist for Bhubaneswar Tanmay Mishra.
The new range of pressure cookers is made of aluminum and is more energy-efficient and conforms to the ISI specifications.
These modern utensils are suitable for traditional Indian cooking.
Usha Lexus has been offering trendy and stylish home appliances at affordable prices.




Shiva Cement gets nod for expansion project
Mumbai: Odisha-based Shiva Cement on Monday said that it has received sanction letter from the state government for an additional 25.69 acres of land for implementing its expansion project.
The company has already received environment clearance, water permission, coal linkage and no objection certificate from Gram Sabha, Shiva Cement said in a notification to the BSE.

MCL observes Safety Fortnight
Sambalpur: The Mahanadi Coalfields Ltd (MCL) on Monday observed the Safety Fortnight at its corporate office here.
Speaking on the occasion, CMD SR Upadhyay stressed on the importance of avoiding complacency, ignorance and lag in taking decisions and on the induction of new technology to achieve zero harm.
Echoing same sentiments DT (Operations) AK Tiwary said that an assessment of the potential areas of accidents have been analysed and efforts are made to eliminate them by producing 100 per cent coal through surface miners, eliminating blasting which is a potential cause of accidents.
Another grey area was coal transportation for which MCL is going for conveyor belts and SILO loading, he added.
Director (Personnel) SC Padhy emphasised on the importance of safety not only in the mines but also in our lives, reiterating that budget would not be a constraint in the induction of new safety equipments.
CVO NK Pradhan felt the induction of new technology in mines.
CGM (Safety) J Singh appreciated the efforts in lessening the fatality rate to three in 2009, to four in 2008 and hoped that safety would improve in the following year.
He also said that the formation of safety committees would be to inspect all the mines of the MCL to choose the best mine.


Stir to hit Omfed supplies
Balasore: The supply of milk and dairy products of Omfed at their Januganj unit in Remuna could be disrupted from Monday affecting Balasore, Bhadrak and Mayurbhanj as several core contractual workers have threatened to go on strike for non-fulfillment of their demands.
Sources stated that 12 employees who were working with Bamul became employees of Omfed soon after its takeover in 1999.
However, the wages of these employees were pending.
Although it was assured at the time of the agreement between the two entities, that the salaries and wages would be settled after their take over, their salaries are yet to be fixed.
The unit, selling 4,000 litre per day, is currently producing 46,000 litre, registering a profit.
However, the wages, salary settlement and service conditions are yet to take place despite 10 years have elapsed.
They were taken into Omfed under false assurances.
By engaging persons on deputation from sick units and nurturing white elephants, Omfed is draining a handsome amount, alleged former CPM Nilgiri MLA and trade union leader Pradipta Panda.
Though the attention of the district administration was drawn, but no steps were taken by them, he added.


Khuntia elected VP, ICFF
Bhubaneswar: Indian National Trade Union Congress vice-president Ram Chandra Khuntia has been elected as the vice-president of International Construction and Forest Federation and member of the managing board from the Asia Pacific region.
At a conference held at Relay in France from December 6 to 11, Claus Hedgegale of Germany and Ahmed Hussein of Philippines were elected the international president and general secretary respectively.



Power reforms: Consumers’ cooperation need of the hour
Bhubaneswar: The Odisha Electricity Regulatory Commission (OERC) on Friday organized a seminar on ‘Issues and challenges of Consumer Interests in the power sector.
Inaugurating the seminar, presiding judge of the Odisha High Court Justice MM Das said that in India’s rapidly growing economy, power is an essential infrastructure and the Electricity Act 2003 is designed to meet the needs of the power sector.
He called for greater consumer education and participation in the sector terms of fund support.
The power distribution companies (discoms) also have to take aggressive measures to reduce loss and improve standards of service while the consumers must rise to the occasion and take active role, he observed.
Presiding over the function, energy minister Atanu Sabyasachi Nayak said that consumer’s participation is vital to the success of reform.
He urged utilities to adopt a customer friendly approach and adhere to statutory standards.
Unless adequate care is taken of consumers, power sector will not be viable, he said.
He also lauded the Commission for balancing interest of all stakeholders and protecting consumer interest and assured the full support of the state government for ensuring that state consumer get safe, reliable and affordable power.
Welcoming the participants, OERC chairman BK Das said that the consumer is the ultimate stakeholders in the power sector as he pays for price of the generation, transmission, distributions and reform is carried out to satisfy his needs.
Chairperson, Appellate Tribunal for Electricity Justice Vinagyan delivered the keynote address on the occasion while member KC Badu proposed vote of thanks.
Other member of the OERC BK Mishra also present on the occasion.
CMD OPTCL and GRIDCO, CJ Venugopal made a presentation on the power scenario in the Odisha followed by the presentation of “Protection of consumer interest in Odisha, by PK Dora, consumer counsel, South and GN Agarwal, convener-cum-general secretary, Samablpur District Consumers Federation.


BIS meet harps on quality products
Balasore: In the age of liberalization and globalization when the market is facing stiff competition across the world, one can survive by quality.
Hence, under the prevailing conditions quality has paramount importance to run an industry.
Speakers expressed this view at a meeting on industrial awareness hosted here by the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) in association with the Balasore Chamber of Industries and Commerce (BCI&C).
Stressing on improving technology, human resources and management system, one should strive to achieve quality to survive in the competitive market, the speakers further pointed out.
Besides, the standardization certificate helps build confidence, they said.
Till now, while 74 items mainly of baby foods, pharmaceutical products and other essential items affecting health and safety of human beings have obtained certificates from the BIS, the process to bring other items to the fold of standardization is in progress, informed Deputy Director General of BIS (Kolkata) DK Chaudhuri.
The presentations on the BIS hallmarking of gold and silver, product certification and management system certification were made on the occasion.
BCI&C president Himansu Das urged the functionaries to simplify the procedure and reduce the current time period of 45 days for certification.
Among others, Director of BIS Bhubaneswar, YB Gadekar, AK Purohit, MP Chakraborti and Balasore Sadar MLA Jiban Pradip Dash also spoke.


RVNL ready for connect rail link to North Odisha
Baripada: The Indian Railways is all set to fulfill the long-cherished dream of the people of North Odisha who had been longing for a railway route between Mayurbhanj and Keonjhar.
Though both districts are neighbours, people of these tribal zones have never been able to connect through railway.
However, the Rail Vikas Nigam Limited (RVNL) has made it possible.
The latest plan to connect Buramara with Chakulia in South Eastern Railway will help the people feel good about it.
Rupsa, Baripada, Bangiriposi, Buramara and Chakulia will now be connected, which will provide a link to Tata Nagar.
The RVNL has come up with the Buramara-Chakulia connectivity plan at a cost of Rs 466.48 crore.
The length of the new line is 125 km and it will connect the Rupsa-Baripada-Bangiriposi broad-gauge line.
The Indian Railways has already developed the Rupsa-Baripada line to a broad-gauge one and the Baripada-Bangiriposi section is in the process of development.
This railway connectivity will not only be an economically viable proposition but will also be able to cater to the need of the tourists in a big way, feels consultant of the Mayfair Group of Hotels RC Mishra.
He said this would be an ‘Eco-Connect’ and provide ample scope for tourists to enjoy nature in general and the Similipal biosphere in particular.
Industrial groups are also happy over the new rail connectivity.
This link would lessen the distance between Jharkhand and Odisha.
With the Dharma Port coming up, this would be helpful for industries and mines to export their products through the new port, said GS Rath, an expert.



NTPC named in Platts Top 250 rankings
Talcher:The National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) has been named a Platts Top 250 Global Energy Company for 2009.
NTPC was awarded the No 1 Independent Power Producer (IPP) in Asia and No 10 on overall performance among the energy companies in Asia, by Platts, a division of the reputed Mc Graw-Hill companies.
NTPC has also been ranked as the No 2 IPP globally and No 73 on overall global performance among energy companies.
The award was received by additional general manager AN Mishra at a ceremony held at Singapore on November 16.


Ban on trucks for coal lifting hits transporters
Talcher: The decision of the Mahanadi Coalfields Ltd (MCL) to allow only tippers and hywas by the coal consuming companies from different mines of Talcher, has come as a set-back to the local coal transporters here, as hundreds of private truck owners are in fear of losing their livelihood.
There are over 3,000 local trucks engaged in coal transportation from the mines at Talcher.
The Director (Technical/Operations) in a letter on November 18 directed CGMs/GMs of the different mines to allow only tippers and hywas of plants, purchasing coal from the MCL and banned transportation in vehicles of private transporters, which was a practice earlier.
In a press briefing, members of the Truck Owners’ Association, Talcher alleged that the decision of the MCL would adversely hit the locals, especially the land oustees who were engaged in the coal transport business.
Association president Dillip Kumar Pani said that since the truck owners have a heavy loan burden, their survival will be at stake if they are banned.
He warned that it might amount to suicides, like the debt-stressed farmers in the state.
Terming the MCL decision as arbitrary, the Association members demanded immediate withdrawal of the order.
They have also sought the intervention of the chief minister, commerce and transport minister and the Union coal minister.



Khadi Board members demand hike in salary package
Bhubaneswar: Members of the Odisha Khadi and Gramadyog Board have demanded enhanced salary package, pension scheme and steps to popularise and large-scale use of Khadi products in the state.
The members, while participating in the concluding board meeting of the year here recently, also proposed a multi-storey plaza at the state headquarters, market complex in the land owned by the board at Mochi Sahi in Puri, extensive pisciculture at tourist destinations like Harishankar in Balangir and Bhitarkanika near Chandbali.
Speaking on the occasion, former MLA Rabi Labanya urged the Centre to bear the entire cost of khadi material produced in Odisha, as there is a poor supply chain of cotton and inefficient weavers of khadi.
Among others, industries commissioner Sourabh Garg and member secretary Suresh Chandra Patel also spoke.
Representatives of Khadi Commission and Cottage Industries Directorate were present at the meeting.


Birlas to give new look to Gandhi temple
Sambalpur: The only Gandhi temple in the country at the outskirts of Sambalpur will soon witness a facelift.
The Birla group has voluntarily come forward after getting the proposal from the local committee.
The residents of Bhatra, a non-descript place in ward No 1 of Sambalpur municipality under the initiative of the then MLA of Rairakhol Abhiram Kumbhar, constructed a temple in 1972, where Mahatma Gandhi is worshipped and it is the only temple of its kind in the country. It attracts tourists every year though the number is few.
We will give this temple a total new look and make all out efforts to get it recognised nationally and internationally, said general manager (special project) of Aditya Birla Group Bharat Parekh, after visiting the temple for the first time.
After reading from newspapers about the Gandhi temple on the eve of Gandhi Jayanti, the Birla Group decided to fill up the deficiency here, Parekh added.
Since the Birla family has always made efforts to keep the memory of Gandhiji alive, upgrading this temple would be a sacred duty for us. All the family members have evinced interest, he further said.
The Gandhi Mandir Foundation Trust of Bhatra and its present president Pramod Kumar will give proposals for the development of this unique place.
At the same time, officials of the Birla Group will also chalk out an action plan for its development, Parekh said.
Kumar and all the residents have welcomed the Birla Group in coming forward to fulfill the needs of the temple.
We even face problems for white-washing, Kumar said.
People here are hopeful that the Gandhi temple will be converted to a national tourist spot after the face lift and will be a research centre for peace and harmony.


IFFCO bags two FAI awards
Bhubaneswar: The Fertiliser Association of India (FAI) has conferred two prestigious awards IFFCO’s Paradip unit for its outstanding performance.
Union chemicals and fertilisers minister MK Azhagiri gave away the prizes at the FAI annual seminar held in Hyderabad last week, an IFFCO release said on Monday.
The awards are for improvement in overall performance for 2008-09 and best technical innovation implemented in fertiliser technology.
The first award was received by IFFCO Technical Director KL Singh and Paradip unit Executive Director MR Patel, while the second one was received by Patel.
The Paradip unit produced 13.06 lakh tonnes of fertiliser in 2008-09.
The technical innovation has resulted in improvement of environment conditions and efficiency of the plant, which is ranked as the world’s largest phosphoric acid unit.
Patel said the awards are recognition of the dedicated team of IFFCO uinit, the released added.


MCL faces hard target
Talcher: Mahanadi Coalfield Limited (MCL), billed as the flagship company of Coal India Ltd, is only half-way to its target, in the first eight months.
It will have to produce the remaining half of the target within the coming four months.
The company is lagging behind the target by about 4.5 million tonne (MT) while Talcher coalfield, which accounts for more than 60 per cent of coal output, was behind their target as well.
At the end of last month Talcher coalfield was more than five MT behind their targeted coal production.
By the end of November last, MCL had produced 58.57 MT out of its annual ambitious target of 115 MT for the year 2009-10.
It has to produce more than 56 MT in the remaining months of December, January, February and March.
Commenting on the target and MCL's preparedness to meet the same, a company official said that it is a Herculean task for MCL, as the company is facing recurrent troubles by locals at Talcher Coalfield almost everyday.
Except Basundhara, Kulda, Lilari and Belpahar, no other open-cast coal mine achieved its target, though most of them have registered positive growth by this time.
According to the official record of MCL, Talcher Coalfield produced 33.37 MT against a target of 38.64 MT while IB valley coalfield consisting of IB valley area and Lakhanapur area recorded a production of 24.01 MT against a target of 23.42 MT.
Basundhara and Garjanbahal area in Sundergarh district produced 6.5 MT against a target of 5.8 MT by the end of November.
Citing frequent disruptions, obstruction and road block at Talcher as the main reason behind the low production of coal, the MCL officials blamed the slow-paced running of contractual vehicles as one of the factors for less production.


Reliance launches two SMS tariff plans
Bhubaneswar:  Mobile service provider, Reliance Communications has launched two news SMS tariff plans- one paise per SMS and Unlimited SMSs at Rs 1 per day.




New SBI CGM
Bhubaneswar: Chandra H Narasingha Rao, has assumed office as the new Chief General Manager of State Bank of India, Bhubaneswar Circle.
Prior to this assignment, Rao was the general manager (MC), Bangalore.
Rao, who joined the Banking service in 1976, has held senior positions as general manager, CAG Central, DGM, ABU, Hyderabad and DGM, CCO at Hyderabad.
He has wide exposure in corporate credit and high value advances.

Tata launches affordable water filter 'Swachh'
Bhubaneswar: Salt-to-software maker, the Tata Group, on Monday said that it intends to sell 1 million units of its new compact water purifier within the next 12 months, production of which has commenced at its West Bengal plant.
Tata Chemicals Ltd, a part of the Tata group, today launched Swachh, a 19-litre filter to provide clean water to millions of Indians who are affected by water-borne diseases each year.
We want to sell in the first year (of launch) a million pieces. The lead time for setting up another unit is three months - if we are hard-pressed for time - and if we take it easy, we can set it up in six months, Tata Chemicals Ltd managing director, R Mukundan, told reporters in Mumbai.
He said that the company has set up a production facility in Haldia, West Bengal, which has an initial manufacturing capacity of 1 million units annually.
Tata Chemicals said it plans to have an additional production capacity of up to three-million tonnes at different sites across the country, including at Haldia.
This is opening up a completely new market. The investment of Rs100 crore is our plan for the next five years. We have probably invested about one-fifth of that amount (so far), Mukundan said.
Swachh, which means 'clean' in Hindi complies with US Environmental Protection Agency standards and does not require running water, power or boiling.
Tata Sons executive director, R Gopalakrishnan said the product is priced so as to make it affordable to rural Indian masses.
Tata Group chairman, Ratan Tata, will disclose the pricing in the next two days.
The company said it is looking to collaborate with the government to reach into India's hinterland.
Tata Chemicals may also export the product to African nations in the future, where other group companies already have operations.
We would like to look beyond India, but our first plan is about the Indian market itself. We haven't really thought through our plans for the overseas market because we believe the problem (of clean water) is big enough in India, Mukundan said.
Ideally, we want to reach out to Africa. We (already) have operations in Africa, South Africa, Kenya, and that is really going to be our market that we'd like to tap into next, he added.
The company carried out its research and development at the Tata Consultancy Services lab over the past decade, adding silver nanotechnology to the purifier.
Tata Chemicals has had test runs of the product in 600 households in Odisha, Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra.
It plans to distribute the product, which will hit the market this month-end, through networks of its agrochemical arm, Rallis India, and the farm services business, Tata Kisan Sansar, which cumulatively reaches about 3 million farmers.
Swachh filters 99.99% of the bacteria and its cartridge--the machine's main component--has a purification life of 3,000 litres.
 

No need to disinvest CIL
Angul:The Bharatiya Majdoor Sangh (BMS) has opposed the decision of the Centre to disinvest Coal India Ltd.
Briefing newsmen here on Monday, BMS All India vice president YD Pattabardhan criticized the move and said there was no dearth of funds for CIL.
He was here to finalize the issues to be taken up at All India Conference of Coal Workers belonging to his union.
Leaders of nine coal-bearing states are to participate in the three-day conference at Talcher.
Pattabardhan claimed that all central trade unions were opposed to the move of divesting CIL and other profit making public sector units.
CIL has registered over 16 percent profit over the last five years and has excelled. It is performing better than any private industry in the country, he said.
He said that the centre wants to offload equity from CIL and other PSUs only to bridge budgetary gaps.
Stating that there is no justification for disinvestment in CIL, the trade union leader said that coal prices are the cheapest in the world and have not been revised for a decade. Among others, trade union leaders, BK Ray, Srinivas Rao and Badal Maharana were present..


CESU targets complete electrification of villages by 2012
Bhubaneswar: Having a target to electrify all villages by 2012 and in order to expedite work on this front, the Central Electricity Supply Utility conducted a training programme for field staff to meet the demand of customers.
The skill-development and training programme was attended by 242 employees of CESU, said a release issued by the distribution company here on Monday.


Airtel’s success
Bhubaneswar: Bharti Airtel has been rated as India's Best Enterprise Connectivity Provider for 2009 at the annual Users’ Choice Awards, said a release issued by the company here on Monday.
Instituted by PC Quest, the awards are based on a survey among 243 large enterprises, spanning all sectors, and spread over eight Indian cities across four zones.


Forum penalizes Tata Indicom
Bhubaneswar: The Khurda Consumer Redressal Forum has penalised Tata Indicom for deficiency in services to a customer who had applied for an internet connection which the company promised to provide within 48 hours, after the credit of Rs 1,122 in the company's account.
As per the case records, a city based customer PK Mahapatra on September 3, 2009 had applied for an internet connection to Tata Indicom by paying the requisite fees.
The marketing personnel took the cheque and promised to provide the connection within 48 hours.
However, after 48 hours it was not provided on the plea that the data was not available for the Internet connection which is part and parcel attachment to the instrument.
This was obviously known to the marketing people.
But this was not disclosed during the time of taking the cheque.
Shockingly, after 10 days the customer was told the procurement job of attachment lies on the customer.
Due to the shifting of responsibility the customer desired refund of the amount he had paid to the company.
But they did not do so. Finding no way out, Mahapatra approached the Director Consumer Affairs, after which the company responded.
However, it again stuck to its false assurances.
When the customer again brought this to the notice of the Director Consumer Affairs, he advised the customer to go for a case and subsequently the case was lodged.
The consumer body on November 11 directed the company to pay a fine of Rs 2,000 and refund the amount.



Syndicate Bank holds customers’ meet
Rourkela: The Syndicate Bank, Rourkela Main Branch observed the Customers’ Meet Day on Saturday.
Bank’s Senior Branch Manager SK Das presided over the meeting.
President of Lions’ Club of Rourkela Deepak Chandan and Chief Manager, Syndicate Bank, Regional Office, Tapan Basu was the chief guest and guest of honour.
About 100 customers of the bank were present. Das highlighted the new products of the bank like CBS, multi-city accounts, RTGS, NEFT, internet banking and SMS banking.


OCL bags CAPEXIL award
Rourkela: The OCL India Ltd, a leading cement manufacturer of the state, has bagged the prestigious CAPEXIL award for the fourth time consecutively.


Vodafone launches new tariff plans
Bhubaneswar: Vodafone Essar has announced new tariff plans which offer substantial reduction in national roaming rates for its prepaid and postpaid customers.
Customers can either opt for the "Travel Plan" to enjoy a flat rate of 70 paise per minute for national roaming or the ‘Ticket Plan’ to enjoy flat national roaming rates of 1.50 per second.


JSS Group holds blood donation camp
Bhubaneswar:  The JSS Group organized a blood donation camp at the IDCO Tower Head Office premises to mark the observance of the World AIDS Day here on December 1.
The camp was supervised by Capital Hospital Blood Bank Officer Dr Debashis Mishra.
Among others, honorary secretary of the Indian Red Cross Society-Odisha State Branch Dr Mangala Prasad Mohanty, JSS Group chairman BK Sahoo and director Arabinda Das were present at the camp.
A total of 30 units of blood were collected from the camp.



Students come out in support of Vedanta University
Puri: About 600 students from various colleges, under the banner of the Youth and Student Forum, Puri, participated in a rally here on Saturday in support of the proposed Vedanta University.
They submitted a memorandum to the President of India through the district collector, urging her to take concrete steps for establishment of the university.
Forum president Bipin Bihari Mishra and secretary Atmaram Pandey gave a detailed report on the need of the university.
The main reason for establishment of the university, they said, is that it would provide opportunity of world-class higher education and high-end research in several academic disciplines.
Such an educational opportunity would also open up several avenues of employment in the country and abroad.
The memorandum said the Government should take concrete steps for establishment of the university.
Even the National Knowledge Commission has recommended establishment of more multidisciplinary universities like Vedanta University in Odisha and elsewhere in the country, it added.



Hellodoctor 24x7 to launch service in state
Bhubaneswar: Hellodoctor 24x7, a healthcare knowledge management company with support from KIIT-TBI (Technology Business Incubator), supported by the National Science and Technology Entrepreneurship Development Board, Department of Science and Technology, Government of India is going to launch their services in Odisha.
In the first phase, services will be like complete health information which includes doctors information, hospitals information, fixing of appointments, blood donors information, ambulance services, hearse services, diagnostic services information, health care NGOs information, beauty care, slimming point, disability and rehabilitation services information. This apart, people can also access information on ayurvedic and homeopathic services.
KIIT-TBI supports innovative ideas having a sustainable business model by providing space, funding, mentoring, networking etc.
One will have to dial a number anywhere at any time and can avail a range of health care information from Hellodoctor 24x7, where they will have an option to take proper clinical decisions.
In the mean time all healthcare institutions and professionals can be benefited by making their process easy and can also track their patients anywhere at any time.
This will be a win-win situation for both the patients and health care service providers, said one member from the team.
In the second phase (March-April) medical answering services will be launched keeping in mind the different needs of both urban and rural people.
Telephonic medical consultations like child health, maternal health, and geriatric health, adult health etc will be provided.
Here doctors, trained nurses and other paramedical professionals will be ready to provide 24x7/365 days services to all people in the state.
Doctors will prescribe medication via SMS as per MCI (Medical Council of India) and e-Health guidelines.
This invocative model led by young doctors had won several prizes in both national and international business plan contests for its sustainability and scalability nature.

Syndicate Bank holds customers’ meet
Bhadrak: The Syndicate Bank on Wednesday observed the Customers’ Meet Day at its branch premises here.
Branch manager BB Pradhan presided over the meting.
About 50 customers of the bank were present. AGM Sailendra Kumar Sarangi told the audience to be good partners with the bank and co-operate with the bank in their transactions.
He stressed the need of timely repayment of the loan as the property of the bank is the property of the nation.
Bank’s advocate Giridhari Nath asked the audience to be punctual in their banking transactions.
Customers also participated giving their suggestions.
Other officers and staff of the bank were present on the occasion.

Reliance Telecom vendors stage demo
Bhubaneswar: Members of the Odisha Telecom Vendors’ Association on Friday staged a demonstration in front of the Reliance Telecom office at Fortune Tower here protesting against alleged false promises by the company management to them.
It was stated by the demonstrators that despite the vendors deposing money and putting up entrepreneurial efforts for execution of the project code WIN are yet to receive the large part of their investment.
Even the purchase orders of many works done at the instruction of company officials are not given to the vendors, they alleged.


IMFA to expand production capacity
Bhubaneswar: Ferro-chrome producer Indian Metals & Ferro Alloys (IMFA) today said it is investing Rs 1,000 crore to increase production capacity and enhance captive power generation in the next two years to meet the growing demand.
Overall we are investing Rs 1,000 crore in the expansion programme. Part of the sum has already been invested and remaining is to be invested soon, IMFA managing director Subhrakant Panda said on the sidelines of ICDA Chromium 2009.
The Bombay Stock Exchange-listed company is expanding production capacity of its mill in Odisha to 2.75 lakh tonnes from the present 2.35 lakh tonnes.
The company is also expanding its existing captive power unit by 30 MW to about 140 MW and the new line will run on both coal and gas.
The expanded line of both ferro-chrome and power is likely to be commissioned by up to March 2010, he added.
In addition to the planned 140 MW, the company is also in process of setting up additional 120 MW line.
We have started the construction for the 120 MW unit which is expected to be complete in next two years. We are in process to tie up the funds for it, said Panda.
To feed the captive power units, the company said it has been allocated a coal block at Angul with an estimated annual mining capacity of 130 million tonnes.
Besides this, the company has supply linkages from Coal India.
IMFA supplies ferro-chrome--used for making stainless steel-- to steel-maker Posco and many Japanese and Chinese firms.
The company is also betting big on the power sector and may soon hive off a subsidiary to enter commercial production.
Until now, our power units are meant only for captive purposes. But going forward, power could soon be an independent line of business for us, Panda said.
To feed the expanding power base and its ferro-chrome production capacity, the company said it is actively looking to secure resources overseas.
We are exploring opportunities to buy coal and chrome resources abroad. For coal, we are primarily looking at Indonesia and for chrome, we are mainly looking at Europe. Turkey is an attractive option, he said.
The company sees global chrome prices stabilising with a positive bias soon and global demand for its products surging in the future.
In the spot market, currently, chrome is available at about 90 US cents, he said. Chrome prices had touched a peak of 215 US cents in January last year after crashing to 60 US cents in October-December 2008.
IMFA exports about 75 per cent of its produce.
Its major domestic clients include country's largest stainless steel maker JSL.


Jindal Stainless seeks more time for Odisha SEZ
New Delhi: India's largest stainless steel producer Jindal Stainless and 15 other developers have approached the government for granting additional time to execute their special economic zone projects.
These 16 developers want extension of the validity period of formal approval to their projects by one year.
Till now, the inter-ministerial Board of Approval (BoA) has given extension to 89 developers.
The BoA headed by Commerce Secretary Rahul Khullar will take up all these cases on December 15, a commerce ministry official said.
Jindal Stainless has approached the government for extension of the validity period of formal approval beyond October 24, 2009, for sector-specific SEZ for stainless steel & ancillary/downstream industry at Kalinganagar in Odisha.
The BoA would also take up eight fresh proposals, including those of Larsen & Toubro and Delhi State Industrial & Infrastructure Development Corporation, for setting up SEZs.


RSP helps farmers
Rourkela: In order to provide sustainable income generation sources to the villagers, Rourkela Steel Plant (RSP) under its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiatives is promoting improved agricultural practices and agri-horti-forestry (Wadi) projects for the farmers as well as small-land-holders, while empowering the landless populace with the knowledge and skill in various off farm employment skills as well as livestock development.
Under the improved agriculture practices initiative the steel plant is aiming at enhancing the earnings of the farmers substantially.
As a part of this, the farmers are being trained at the Institute for Peripheral Development of RSP regarding soil and water management as well as sound and scientific crop management practices.
Efforts are also on to increase the crop yield through innovative practices.
In addition to this, the steel plant is now providing improved paddy, wheat, mustard and Bengal gram seeds to the villagers at a subsidised rate.
The beneficiaries are being identified by the village level organisations formed in each village.
Rourkela Steel Plant has recently distributed 12,200 kgs of wheat and 444 kgs of mustard to farmers of Bisra, Kuarmunda, Lathikata and Rajgangpur blocks so as to enable the farmers cultivate Rabi crop.
Each kg of wheat is being given at Rs 2.50, while each kg of mustard is being given at Rs 5.00 and Bengal gram at Rs.7.50.
Notably, the money collected from the sale of seeds will be given to the Village Level Organization that will be used for the development of the village.
The agricultural experts deputed by RSP will be visiting the cultivated lands regularly in order to give practical inputs on rearing the crops, to the beneficiaries.
The villagers were earlier using the seeds from their own crops which used to result in low yield.
Use of improved variety of seeds will increase the crop yield significantly, thereby enhancing the earning potential of the farmers.
The scientific way of farming being promoted and popularized by RSP will not only benefit the farmers on a long-term basis but will also encourage others to follow the practice.
Meanwhile, advocating the need to give maximum thurst in , the managing director of Rourkela Steel Plant, SN Singh has called for whole-hearted effort towards this end. Today production with pollution is an anathema. We should all join hands in creating products and using processes that help in controlling pollution and improving the environment, Singh said while inaugurating a workshop on enhancement of fly ash utilisation here on Wednesday.




Tata Steel holds rallies on World AIDS Day
Bhubaneswar: On the occasion of the World AIDS Day, the Tata Steel Rural Development Society (TSRDS) held various programmes in Ganjam and Jajpur districts. It observed the day with multiple programmes in Sukinda.
An HIV/AIDS rally comprising SHG members, youth clubs, schoolchildren, PRI members and villagers went around Sukinda.
This was followed by a film show Katha Rakhiba, AIDS Rokiba.
The District AIDS Prevention & Control Unit, Ganjam, in association with the TSRDS, ActionAid, Karuna Trust, and Red Cross, organised an awareness rally in Berhampur. RDC (South) Dr Chandrasekhar Kumar flagged off the rally in the presence of district collector.



Essar Steel to pay 19.10 lakh per acre of private land
Jagatsinghpur: Essar Steel whose proposed six MTPA integrated steel plant near Paradip has been in the middle of controversy due to stiff resistance by the to-be-displaced families over poor compensation towards land acquisition, has reportedly agreed to pay Rs 19.10 lakh per acre for private land.
The contentious issue was sorted out at a tripartite meeting involving district administration, displaced families’ representatives and company officials here on Tuesday.
The other major demands like employment opportunities, proper implementation of Rehabilitation and Reconstruction (R & R) policy of 2006, peripheral development and protection of environment etc will be taken up in the Rehabilitation and Periphery Area Development Advisory Committee (RPDAC) committee meeting to be held shortly.
Of the 1,925 acres of land identified for the steel project, around 1,663 acres belong to private parties.
Most of the 592 families including 909 sub families from Nuagarh, Paradipgarh, Udayabata, Bijyachandpur, Pipala, Baldia, Chakradharpur, who have been identified as displaced families, had been protesting the low compensation sums and demanding at least Rs 25 lakh per acre.
They had earlier resorted to agitation measures like dharna, demonstration, road blockade etc to press for their demands.
It was alleged that the district administration, without caring for local demands, had expedited the land acquisition for the steel project prompting these families to intensify their agitation.
The families have, in fact, boycotted the award passing camp at Kujanga on different occasions.
Led by Milita Kriyanustan Committee, the families had remained firm over the fulfillment of their demands, and the district administration had to persuade the company to have a re-look into the compensation package.
Presiding over the meeting here, district collector Gyanranjan Das sought the cooperation of the affected people for the establishment of the project and assured that other demands would be considered in the RPDAC meeting.
District rehabilitation officer Surjeet Das, special land acquisition officer Nrusingh Swain, Essar Steel director SR Sethy and project manager MS Thakur were present in the meeting.
It may be noted here that Essar Steel is going to set up its six MTPA integrated steel plant near Paradip at a projected cost of Rs 10,721 crore.
The project will come up in two phases, company officials informed.
The administration has handed over 103 acres of government land to the company, on which construction work has already started.



Nalco to invest Rs 22,000 cr for setting up plants in Odisha, AP
New Delhi: State-run aluminium producer National Aluminium Company (Nalco) will spend about Rs 22,000 crore in setting up two mega projects, one each in Odisha and Andhra Pradesh, the Lok Sabha was informed on Tuesday.
The navratna firm will set up a 5-lakh tonne aluminium smelter in Jharsuguda, Odisha along with a 1260 MW captive power plant at an estimated investment of Rs 16,345 crore.
Also, it will be installing an alumina plant with an annual capacity of 1.4 million tonnes in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh, at a consideration of about Rs 5,700 crore, mines minister B K Handique said in a written reply to the Lower House.
The company has recently been given bauxite mines in the southern state with a capacity of 42 lakh tonnes per year.
Nalco has informed that they propose to establish mines and refinery project in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh and an aluminium smelter plant and coal-based captive power plant at Brajarajnagar in Jharsuguda, Orissa as a part of its expansion plan in India, Handique added.
The company has earmarked Rs 2 crore each for pre-project activities in both the states as on November 25, he said. The time-frame for completing these two projects could not be immediately ascertained.
At present, Nalco has a 4.35 million tonnes per annum aluminium plant in Angul in Odisha.


Karnataka now invites Posco
New Delhi: Karnataka is now wooing South Korean steel giant Posco to set up a mega unit in the mineral rich state, even as the company said it is committed to Rs 54,000 crore project in Odisha.
Though Posco said that the Karnataka visit was exploratory on state government's invitation, it however, did not comment on any new investment opportunities in India.
However, Karnataka's commissioner for industrial development Raj Khatri said that Posco has shown interest in setting up a six million tonne per annum steel plant in the state with an estimated investment of up to Rs 30,000 crore.
Karnataka's invitation to Posco comes on heels of it wooing another steel giant ArcelorMittal last month for setting up a six-million tonne per annum unit.
Posco India senior vice-president Vikas Sharan said that on invitation from industries department, the government of Karnataka, to see the opportunity available for setting up a steel project, Posco representative visited Karnataka.
Posco, which is facing problems in starting its proposed Odisha project, said that the call was an exploratory courtesy visit and it is committed to its Rs 54,000-crore plant in Odisha that has witnessed inordinate delays due to tribal protests and regulatory clearances.
This was just an exploratory courtesy visit on invitation. Our focus is now fully on expediting the Orissa project and getting it started at the earliest, Sharan said.
Karnataka's large and medium industries minister Murugesh R Nirali said that the discussions are at preliminary stage.
Government had extended an invitation to Posco. The discussions are in initial stage. Within a month it is expected to come into shape, Nirali said.
The global giant is working to set up a 12-million tonnes per annum steel plant in Odisha, which is facing delays in taking off on account of problems in acquiring land and regulatory hurdles.
Faced with tribal protests in Jagatsinghpur district of Odisha, the steel maker had said it is planning to shift the site of the plant but within the state.
The steel major needs about 4,000 acres for the steel plant. It is also awaiting iron ore mining leases to run the plant.
Last month, Karnataka government had invited NRI billionaire LN Mittal-led ArcelorMittal to set up a project in the state.
ArcelorMittal's proposed Rs 1 lakh crore steel projects, one each in Odisha and Jharkhand have failed to take off too on account of problems in land acquisition and regulatory bottlenecks.


Stage set for BPPL power plant
Athgarh: The proposed 135 MW Power Plant of Bhubaneswar Power Private Limited (BPPL) to be set up at Dhurusia, 12 km from here, has dispelled fears of pollution at a public meeting held on Sunday under the chairmanship of Cuttack ADM Dhiren Kumar Pattnaik.
Maintaining that the modern machineries utilised would check all kinds of pollution, director of the company D Venkatram said that the smoke from the factories will be released 400 ft above the ground level and the contaminated water would be treated inside the factory premises.
He said that locals would be given priority in its recruitment drive.
Power would be supplied to Tata and Grid Corporation of Odisha.
Locals extended their cooperation with the condition that they would be given employment, uninterrupted power supply and other peripheral development.
Among others present were Tehsildar Abinash Rout, Pollution Control Board’s regional officer DK Rout and public representatives.
BPPL administrative officer Bikram Mohanty said that land acquisition drive is on and other works of the company would be expedited.


MCL observes World AIDS Day
Sambalpur: The World AIDS Day was observed by the MCL headquarters with a camp at Laxmi Dungri, where free condoms and pamphlets were distributed to truck drivers at the check-gate.
The camp organised by the MCL in association with the YMCA, Burla, saw the dedicated team led by MCL CMO Tripathy and Nodal Officer for AIDS, MCL, Sahu, educating the truck drivers on the evils of unprotected sex and ways to combat the dreaded disease.
MCL medical department also organised a family planning operation camp at Anand Vihar Dispensary, which saw 162 cases registered for laparoscopy.
The operations conducted by Jaidev Meher had till lunch time performed 70 cases.
The patients and their attendants were provided food packets and lunch by the MCL medical department.


Paradip refinery labour union holds meet at IOCL site
Paradip: The only active union of Paradip Oil Refinery project, Eastern India Oil Refinery Labour Union, organised its annual meet at the Trilochanpur site of Indian Oil Corporation Ltd (IOCL).
Union president Santosh Kumar Patnaik, who presided over the meeting, said that though the Paradip Port was established 45 years ago, local political and union leaders have risen to their life-size image depending on the port without uplifting the poor and economically backward people who lost their lands to industries, including the refinery.
However, his union has always stood by the side of the local farmers, landless farmers and land losers, he claimed.
We are also trying to look after the old people of the area, who are dependant on others,” he said.
The union is a non-commercial and non-political body, unlike many other unions, which blow their own trumpets and give false assurances to the locals, he said.


GMR Energy to invest Rs 18,000 cr by 2012
New Delhi: GMR group firm GMR Energy on Tuesday said that it would invest Rs 18,000 crore in the next three years to add electricity generation capacity and become nearly 3,300 MW company from the little over 800 MW now.
The company is operating three plants in India, 380 MW unit at Vemagiri in Andhra Pradesh, another 200 MW project in Chennai in Tamil Nadu, and a 235 MW plant in Mangalore in Karnataka.
Asked about funds, Raaj Kumar, CEO and director, GMR Energy said that these projects would be funded at a debt and equity ratio of 75:25. For the equity portion, we have internal accruals and short-term loans, he pointed out.
The company is in talks with various banks, including State Bank of India, Axis Bank, SBI Caps and others for finance of different projects.
These lenders have been with us for a long time, he added.
GMR Energy's projects in the pipeline include 1050 MW plant at Kamalanga in Odisha, 800 MW expansions at the company's running Vemagiri plant.
It is also developing a 600 MW power project for its subsidiary Emco Energy.
These three projects are scheduled to be commissioned in 2012, end of 11th Five Year Plan.
The company is also setting up a 1,320-MW power plant in Chhattisgarh, which would be commissioned in early 2013.
In Odisha we are investing Rs 4,540 crore, for Emco Rs 3,360 crore, Vemagiri is Rs 2,800 crore and Chhattisgarh Rs 5,500 crore, Kumar said.
GMR Energy is developing five hydro power projects- three in India and two in Nepal. The financial closure for the company's 300 MW hydro plant at Uttarakhand would be complete by March, 2010.
The financial closure for the 300 MW hydro power project in Uttarakhand would be done by March 2010 and after that it would take 54 months to complete the project, he said.
For the Emco project, the debt component would be arranged from Axis Bank, for the Chhattisgarh project and the gas-based project in Andhra Pradesh, the company is in talks with SBI.


Bima Chronicle observes 2nd anniversary
Bhubaneswar: Bima Chronicle, a city-based fortnightly which mainly highlights reports and analyses on the insurance industry, observed its second anniversary here on Sunday. Speaking on the occasion, Insurance Ombudsman SK Dhal said that insurance is a growing subject and Bima Chronicle is doing a good job in educating the general public about it.
State Finance Commission chairman Sudhakar Panda lauded his student of BJB College Prakash Mohapatra for bringing out the magazine, the first of its kind in the state, under his editorship.
Gracing the occasion as the chief guest, panchayati raj and I&PR minister Prafulla Samal said that it is high time the state’s advertisement policy was changed to enable small and medium newspapers to survive.
Among others, former IGP Kulamani Deo, Punjab National Bank DGM Bikish Mishra, president Travels and Tours Association Benjamin Simon and president of Bhubaneswar Truck Owners’ Association B Mohapatra also spoke.
Captain Ranjan Sharma presented the annual report. Banchhanidhi Das was felicitated as lifetime achiever in the insurance field.


Allahabad bank reaches out to the poor
Jagatsinghpur: The Allahabad Bank organised a saving bank mobilisation cum credit disbursal camp at Kujang on Monday.
District collector Gyan Ranjan Dash graced the occasion and distributed savings bank passbooks and loan passbooks to the poor and the women SHG groups.
He interacted with the borrowers on income generating activity undertaken by them for which the bank loan has been sanctioned and how to make the best use of it for sustainable economic growth.
He also appreciated Allahabad Bank’s initiative in promoting financial inclusion and helping the poor rural households through SHG-Bank linkage.
Senior executive of the bank, Mr Amreesh Saxena, and branch manager, Pradeep Kumar Das highlighted the achievements of the bank in reaching out to the poor and providing socio-economic empowerment.
The Bank has nurtured around 30 percent of total SHG of Kujang Block (approximately 250 Women SHG groups in the Kujang and Gandakipur locality) and provided credit linkage to more than 150 women groups, they informed.
A large number of people turned up at the camp where more than 300 savings bank accounts were opened and credit sanctions/disbursements to the tune of Rs 56.52 lacs were made by the bank to individual and SHG members under various schemes.
Crop loan
The 17 Central Cooperative Banks (CCBs) in Odisha have disbursed crop loan to the tune of Rs 1,407.82 crore among a total of 10,11,203 farmers during kharif season this year. This disbursement has achieved 92 per cent of the target.
During last kharif season, cooperative crop loans worth Rs 545.40 crore was disbursed among 4,65,251 farmers, informed cooperative minister Dr Damodar Rout, while responding to questions by Surendra Singh Bhoi, Nihar Ranjan Mahananda and Dushmanta Nayak in the State Assembly on Tuesday.
Referring to the data provided by Nabard, the minister claimed that the commercial banks have disbursed Rs 728 crore towards agricultural loans, while the rural banks have disbursed Rs 278 crores.
In a bid to alleviate the plight of the farmers, the state government has decided to provide loans at five per cent interest though the CCBs this year, he maintained.



Private spinning mill to buy cotton from farmers
:Berhampur The Ganjam district administration has asked a private spinning mill in Aska to procure cotton from farmers at the minimum support price (MSP) fixed by the state government to stop its distress sale.
Balaji Spinning mill have been asked to procure cotton from farmers at the rate of MSP fixed by the government, district collector V K Pandian said.
Price of cotton has been fixed at Rs 2,500 and Rs 3,000 per quintal depending on the quality of the product.
Last year, the spinning mill had procured around 400 quintals of cotton after much persuasion.
Cotton Federation of India (CFI) and Eco Farm, a private organization, were also requested to procure cotton.
The district administration has stressed on procuring cotton by these firms as bumper crop is expected this year.
As against the production of 826 quintals of cotton last year, 1,800 quintals are likely to be produced this year.
Cotton is grown in about 1,465 hectares in the district, officials said.

Five major port unions to go on strike from Dec 15
Paradip: Five All-India Major Ports’ Federations representing 60,000 workers of 12 major ports of India have called for an all India indefinite strike from December 15 if their demands regarding wages are not fulfilled.
However, a trade union leader of the port town said the strike can be averted if the port authorities show willingness to hold talks at the earliest.
The demand made by these federations was promised to be considered in a meeting with Bipartite Wage Negotiation Committee (BWNC).
However, the payment of arrears of allowances to workers is pending since January, 2007.
Three years have passed since negotiations have started.
The ports managements are now saying that they would make payments on allowances prospectively, which is not acceptable to the federations.
The federations are also opposing the managements’ proposal of a minimum monthly pay of Rs 7,500, as against Rs 8,200 negotiated at a meeting convened by the Union shipping minister in early September.
Further, the BWNC has held 23 meetings in these three years and an understanding was reached in September when the unions agreed to a 23 per cent wage hike over basic pay, instead of the 34 per cent demanded earlier by them.
If the matter is not resolved immediately before December 15, the strike looks imminent.

Vedanta launches quality education drive for secondary school students
Jharsuguda: In a bid to impart quality education and improve the competency level of secondary level students in peripheral villages, Vedanta Aluminium Ltd (VAL) launched a unique programme, Vedanta Vidyarthi Vikash Yojana here at Hotel City Palace in Jharsuguda.
The programme will be implemented by NGO Anchalika Jana Kalyan Anusthan (AJKA) in the six peripheral villages of VAL viz Bhurkamunda, Banjari, Kurebaga, Bhagipalli, Maa Samaleswari Nagar and Brundamal wherein five supplementary and remedial teaching centres will be opened for the secondary school students and supplementary reading-writing materials will be provided to encourage self-learning process among them along with guidance on life skills and personality development.
Speaking on the occasion, Pankaj Khanna, Executive Director VAL, said that VAL aims at enabling project-affected families of the core peripheral villages to access quality education in vernacular schools by facilitating their linkage with the standardised tutorial classes and fun learning methods named as ‘Vedanta Vidyarthi Vikas Yojana’ and success of this pilot project will further the implementation in the entire district.
During the programme, deputy DI of Schools, Nandamani Toppo, executive director VAL, Pankaj Khanna, COO VAL, Abhijit Pati, secretary AJKA, Gautam Behera, Sarpanch Badmal, Tribikram Singh, secretary Anchalik Janmanch, Ratan Nayak, social worker Digdhan Pradhan and many students from peripheral villages, women, villagers and senior officials from VAL were present among others.
COO VAL Abhijit Pati said that Vedanta is always there to come forward for improving the lives of the people.

Tata trains sportswomen for free
Bhubaneswar: Tata Steel has initiated residential intensive advance training of international standards to Namita Kabat of Keonjhar and Dutee Chand of Jajpur in Tata Athletic Academy at Jamshedpur.
Kabat and Chand are the second and third such athletes from Odisha to get advanced training in Tata Athletics Academy (TAA).
They will be undergoing training for five years in Tata Athletics Academy. Tata Steel will bear all cost of expenditure incurred during the period.
Meanwhile, only after three weeks of training in Tata Athletics Academy, Dutte Chand has won Gold medal in 200 metres and 400 metres under 16 category in the recently concluded Junior National Athletic Championship.
She has also won the best athlete award in under-16 category.
In the same competition, Namita Kabat won Gold medal in 800 metre in under 18 category.
The basic objective of Tata Athletics Academy is to provide the mainstream of national athletics with a perennial pool of young athletes trained and oriented to international standards.
The strategy is to ‘Catch Them Young’ to give them the best in terms of training with modern techniques, tactics, psychological, physical conditioning and related inputs to make them medal winners in the International arena.
Besides technical training, training on personality development is also imparted.
With the modern facilities, free education and medical care makes this academy truly a home away from home.
The company is sure that with the rigorous and scientific training at the TAA, all these athletes will bring many such glories to Odisha and also be a source of inspiration for the women of the state.



Nalco inks MoU for production of nuclear power
Bhubaneswar National Aluminium Company Ltd (Nalco) has entered into a MoU with the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) to produce nuclear power.
The NPCIL is partnering with Central PSUs for setting up nuclear power plants.
The MoU was signed by Nalco CMD AK Srivastava and NPCIL CMD SK Jain in Mumbai on November 26.
Nalco’s participation in equity in the JV would be a maximum 49 per cent, with the NPCIL having the majority stake of a minimum 51 per cent.
Initially, the JV company would set up a 1,000 MW plant with an investment of Rs 8,500 crore, said sources.
The JV company would set up two nuclear power (rector) units at a mutually-agreed location.
NPCIL ED would head a panel to decide the site.
The company would have a professional management team headed by a CEO for day-to-day operations.


Posco to hold elocution competition
Bhubaneswar:Subhasis Barik of Bhubaneswar scored six points and emerged champion in the boys’ category of the Odisha State Under-7 Chess championship that concluded at KC Club in Nayagarh on Sunday.
Rudrakhya Parida scored five points bagged the runners-up trophy. In girls’ category, Adyasha Mohapatra of Bhubaneswar scored 4.5 points and emerged champion, Anwesha Mishra of Cuttack won the runners-up trophy.
Surajeet Satapathy bagged best local player of the tournament, Ram Son and Anuska Mohanty won the most junior player award in boys and girls’ categories respectively. Top two finishers in both boys and girls categories will represent Odisha in the national Under-7 championship to be held at Ahmedabad from December 16 to 24.




Ranjit wins golf championship
Bhubaneswar:Posco-India will organise an inter-school elocution competition, Poscitive, in two successive rounds.
Students from different schools of Bhubaneswar, Cuttack, Paradip and Jagatsinghpur will participate in the event to explore their talent.
The preliminary rounds of the competition will be held at the respective towns on November 30.
The participants have to present their view on the topic ‘How I plan to make Odisha India’s best state.’
The final round will be held at the IDCOL Auditorium, Bhubaneswar, on December 5.
Prizes have been lined up for the best school team and best individual participation. Posco-India MD CK Kwon said that in future, the company will definitely introduce some other innovation to its social responsibility.

SBI union seeks separate revision
BhubaneswarThe All-India State Bank Officers Federation (AISBOF) today rejected the proposed 17.5 per cent wage hike and pension benefits and demanded a separate wage revision for them.
We do not agree with the proposed salary hike for bank employees. The SBI employees demand that the increase should be at par with the salary of the Central government employees, AISBOF vice-president SK Haldar said.
The Indian Banks Association (IBA) and United Federation of Banking Unions (UFBU) representing nine bank employee associations had agreed to the wage hike and pension benefits after a prolonged discussion in Mumbai on Friday.
Haldar, who was here to attend the zonal conference of the SBI Officers Association, said AISBOF will decide its future course of action on Tuesday.
The three lakh SBI employees are ready for an indefinite strike to demand a separate wage revision at par with the Central government employees, he added.

Vendata hopes quick nod for Odisha project
Bhubaneswar: Mining giant Vedanta Resources on Sunday said that it expects speedy clearance from the Centre for bauxite mining at the Niyamgiri hills in Odisha after the state government claimed the project would not cause any displacement of tribals.
I hope the statement of the minister would expedite the process (of grant of the mining lease), Vedanta Resources Chief Executive Officer M S Mehta said in a telephonic interview.
Steel and mines minister Raghunath Mohanty had informed the Assembly last week that not a single family of Dangaria Kandha tribe lived at the proposed mining area of Lanjigarh, located between Rayagada and Kalahandi districts and there would be no displacement.
The company is understood to be awaiting final clearance from the environment ministry.
Vedanta Resources will enter into a joint venture with Odisha Mining Corporation for mining bauxite at the Niyamgiri hills to feed its upcoming alumina refinery at Lanjigarh in the state.
The proposed mining project has reportedly been facing protest from locals as well as international NGOs over allegation of tribal displacement.
Mehta said that the Minister's clarification should settle the undesirable and malicious debate which has been taking place at the behest of vested parties.
There have been misplaced concerns about displacement. All the independent environment-impact studies have revealed that there would be no displacement due to our project, he said.
The project, which would start within four months of final clearance from the Centre, would bring $2 billion investment in a phased manner in "one of the poorest areas" in the country, he added.
The $2 billion has the potential to transform the socio-economic condition of the people of the poor region.
Asked if the global company is disappointed over the regulatory delays to commence the project, Mehta said that he feels sorry for the locals as development of the region is getting delayed. The approval has taken longer than expected time but is progressing along the channel.
The green bench of the Supreme Court last year gave approval to the project along with that to Rs 54,000-crore steel project of Posco in the state.
Vedanta Resources has planned an investment of $8 billion (around Rs 37,000 crore) in the state across its projects in the power and aluminium sector.
However, there are Dongaria and Kutia Kandha population living on periphery of the Niyamgiri hills and steps are being taken towards there welfare, Mehta said.

Premier Trading House status for Nalco
Bhubaneswar: Yet another feather was added to the cap of National Aluminium Company Ltd (Nalco), a Navratna PSU, with the prestigious Premier Trading House status, in accordance with the provision of the Exim Policy by ministry of commerce & industry, government of India.
Premier Trading House status is the highest status awarded to any export house by Government of India.
As per the current foreign trade policy, the export house should have exported goods worth Rs 7,500 crore or above during the current year plus previous three years for getting status of Premier Trading House.
Nalco has achieved export of Rs 7,609.07 crore during the current year up to 31 July 2009 including the previous three years- from April 2006 to July 2009.
It may be mentioned here that since 2005 Nalco has been recognised as a five star trading house for its substantial contributions to export of aluminium metal and calcined alumina to various overseas markets.
Nalco has been making rapid progress in the field of aluminium metal exports which have further gone up with the commissioning of ongoing 2nd phase capacity expansion.

JK Paper Mills scales new heights
Rayagada:On the 125th birth anniversary of JK founder Lala Kamalapat Singhania, State Election Commissioner Ajit Tripathy expressed concern over the industries that move away after their businesses conclude.
He hoped that JK Paper Mills would stay and invest in the health and educational development.
He congratulated the organization for taking the production to new heights in the 40 years of its being.
Rayagada district collector Krushna Gopal Mohapatro expressed satisfaction over the institution’s initiatives in peripheral development.
JK Paper Mills vice-president and Chief Executive Officer MC Golel spoke of the contribution of late Kamalapat Singhania towards the growth of the country.
He said that while the annual paper production is 140,000 tonnes of paper, there is now an expansion plan to raise it to 250,000 tonnes by investing Rs 1,500 crore.
Vice-president (Personnel & Administration) M Ramesh Kumar and Commercial Manager JK Paper Ltd Kamal Thapar also spoke on the occasion.
JK employees who had completed 25 years of service were felicitated by the chief guest. The employees include Sr PRO Nilamani Rajguru, NK Jain and 44 other senior members. The event was coordinated by Nilamani Rajguru.

Bureau Veritas participates in Enterprise Odisha
Bhubaneswar: Bureau Veritas, a global leader in certification, conformity assessment services in the areas of QHSE (Quality, Health, Safety, Environment, Social Responsibility and Information Security) participated in the CII-sponsored Enterprise Odisha, 2009.
The company’s area manager-Kolkata Bani Kumar Roy and Bhubaneswar Bureau manager Mihir Kumar Mohapatra said that the purpose of participating in the event is to make our services available to the local industry.
Bureau Veritas is now operating on conformity assessment services with Vedanta Aluminium, Sterlite Energy, Jindal Steel and Power, Bhusan Powers and Steel and IOCL in Odisha.
In the certification business, Bureau Veritas has certified many major industries, health and educational institutions in the State for QMS, EMS, OHSAS, SA-22000 and IMS.
At the national level Bureau Veritas Certification has certified major corporate houses such as Tata, LANCO, L&T, NTPC, IFFCO, GAIL, RIL, Reliance ADAG, HINDALCO, BPCL, ONGC, BHEL and many others.

SACON to carry out study on Eastern Ghats
Coimbatore: The Salim Ali Centre for Ornithology and Natural History (SACON) here will carry out a study on the Eastern Ghats, which is facing threat from human activities like real estate business, Union environment minister Jairam Ramesh said on Sunday.
The Centre has brought out a comprehensive atlas on 60,000 inland wetlands in non-coastal areas by satellite imaging, he told reporters after visiting SACON, about 30 kms from here.
Spread over seven million hectares, the Ghat is under threat from real estate developers and have become a dumping yard for municipal and industrial waste, he said.
Stating that the ministry has a national programme for protection and regeneration of inland wetlands, he said similar work would be carried on coastal wetlands like Chilika in Odisha and Pulicat in Tamil Nadu.

Nalco-NPCIL N-power plant proposed in Ganjam
Bhubaneswar As part of its proposed diversification activities, National Aluminium Company Ltd (Nalco) has decided to enter into an (MoU) with the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd (NPCIL) to produce nuclear power.
Signing of a nuclear deal with USA by India has ended isolation of the country from sources of nuclear fuel and paved the way for large-scale generation of nuclear power in the country.
The Centre has reportedly decided to produce nuclear power with the support of Central PSUs.
Accordingly, the NPCIL, which is eyeing setting up of a nuclear power plant in Odisha, has roped in Nalco, the first Navratna company in Odisha, revealed sources.
An MoU would be signed soon between NPCIL and Nalco for a joint venture (JV), official sources said.
The JV company would set up a 1,000-megawatt nuclear power plant with an investment of Rs 8,500 crore.
A site has been identified near Berhampur in Ganjam district for the plant, said an official in the Department of Energy.
The JV would be run with a professionally-managed team.
A steering committee has been formed to scale up the move and the panel is likely to induct more members, said the sources.
Meanwhile, Nalco has been accorded the prestigious Premier Trading House status in accordance with the provision of the EXIM policy by the Centre.
Premier Trading House (PTH) status is the highest award to any Export House.
As per the Foreign Trade Policy, an Export House should have exported goods worth Rs 7,500 crore or more during the current year plus previous three years for getting the PTH status.
Nalco has achieved an export target of Rs 7,609 crore during the current year up to July 31, 2009 and the previous three years.

Tata Steel’s initiative to empower women
Jajpur: Tata Steel kicked off this year’s edition of Tejaswini Programme recently.
This initiative by Tata will empower women by creating for them, role models, who will define the way forward for women in society as well as industry.
As a first step, women, including the members of panchayati raj institutions of Kalinganagar in Jajpur district, were given training in Gandhi Labour Foundation (Puri) on topics such as of empowerment and sustainable development. Gandhi Labour Foundation, established in 1999, not only educates the rural populace of the country in order to improve their skills, but also imparts knowledge to them on their rights and duties as citizens.
These efforts have benefited the rural people and made them better human beings.
As a second and final step to identify the Tejaswinis of Kalinganagar, a five-month long competition has been initiated amongst the community of women, through self-help groups, to asses their creative and leadership qualities.
The programme started with a song competition at Gobarghati in the presence of PRI members, Tata Steel officials and Tata Steel Parivar members.
A total of 200 female participants from 15 Women SHGs from various villages like Ranipada gram panchayat, Trijanga, Dhuligada, Nadiabhanga and Gobarghati, attended the programme on Monday.
Company officials said that around 1,000 tribal and non-tribal women are participating in this assessment process from 50 peripheral villages of Kalinga Nagar, through 65 women SHGs.
The competition will continue till April 2010 and include song, debate, fun games, sweater-making, musical chair, jhoti, dance, drawing etc.
Along with professionals, local women PRI members are assessing each and every women participant in these competitions.
The final ceremony will be conducted at Tata Steel Paribar Rehabilitation Colony, Sansailo, and winners will be felicitated on the Oriya Naba Barsha day which falls on 14 April.
As a founder member of UN Global Compact, Tata Steel is committed towards the Millennium Development Goals of UN, which lays stress upon promoting gender equality and empowering women.
The search for Tejaswinis in Kalinganagar in Odisha once again reaffirms Tata Steel's commitment towards millennium development goals of UN and implementation of ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) issues of UN Global Compact at the grass-root level, a company official said.

OSRTC loss mounts to Rs 221.09 crore
Bhubaneswar:The losses of the Odisha State Road Transport Corporation (OSRTC) have mounted to Rs 221.09 crore.
The state government would consider the proposal for reconstruction of the corporation and financial assistance to it.
Commerce and transport minister Sanjib Kumar Sahu stated this in the State Assembly on Friday in reply to a question by BJD member Bibhuti Bhusan Balabantaray.

SMARDA, Nabard impart training to rural women
Raygada:A vocational and entrepreneurship development training programme of 42 days was inaugurated on Thursday by Rayagada DRDA PD Gautam Nayak who said self-dependence was the gateway to freedom.
The programme, sponsored by NABARD, is organized by SMARDA, a local NGO headed by Dr Suryakanti Rout who said the programme was focused on the poverty-ridden women.
Nayak The programme’s emphasis is on the economic independence of tribal, dalit and other women from the weaker sections of society.
Nabard manager Bhubaneswar Pradhan said that the bank was committed to help building the capacities of poor women through civil organizations like SMARDA.
SBI’s Binod Chandra Panda spoke of the magic of micro-credit to rural women which could bring a definite change in their lives.
DIC Manager Saroj Kumar Hota and Rayagada CDPO Dipti Dandapani rendered the training.

Ahluwalia Group pays Rs 50 cr I-Ts
Keonjhar: The Ahluwalia Group headed by KJS Ahluwalia, engaged in trading, manufacturing and export of ferrous and non-ferrous metals, sponge iron and other allied services, paid Rs 50 crore as preliminary tax to the Income Tax Department (IT) after raids conducted on 30 places throughout the country, said sources.
The amount paid was on an initial tax assessment.
The Ahluwalia group paid this amount through five instruments deposited recently, subject to the final assessment to be made by IT authorities.



RBI seeks feedback from villagerss
Dhenkanal: As part of its platinum jubilee celebrations, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) organized an outreach programme at Bishnupur village in Dhenkanal district recently.
The programme, said to be the first one of its kind, aimed to seeking feedback from the villagers in matters of banking activities and suggestions to bring out reform in the sector.
Regional director, RBI, Bhubaneswar, Kaza Sudhakar inaugurated the programme in the presence of senior RBI and other bank officials and villagers.
During the programme, the RBI unit opened a coin exchange stall along with soiled notes exchange cell.
The bank also conducted awareness programme on how to identify fake notes, how to access loans, other benefits from different national and commercial banks, and other features of banking activities.
On this occasion, a photo exhibition and a quiz competition on banks were also organized.
The RBI officials interacted with local women members of SHGs, pensioners, teachers, students and farmers and heard their grievances.
They also issued passbooks to members of farmers’ societies for banking transaction.
This was fifth programme in the state on account of platinum jubilee celebration, they informed.
Bishnupur will be developed as a model village and all efforts will be taken by the Apex Bank for its all-round development, the officials informed.
Earlier, the villagers had formed a forum to apprise the visiting team of various difficulties by the customers of banks in the district.
Accordingly, the RBI officials were intimated of the deficiency of services in different banks.
Many banks lack basic facilities like drinking water facility, ‘May I Help You’ desk, toilet facility, proper waiting facilities and coin and soiled note exchange counters, the forum members pointed out.

Tata Steel to resolve land issue by December
Kolkata: Tata Steel Saturday said it hopes to resolve the land issue of the Rs 21,000 crore greenfield Kalinganagar project in Odisha by December this year.
We are still grappling with land issue for the Orissa project. Eighty per cent of the people have evacuated the site and and we expect the rest to move out happily by December, Tata Steel Managing Director H M Nerurkar told reporters in Kolkata on Monday.
Tata Steel officials were expecting that construction work would begin soon after the company gets the 3,200 acre acquired for the six-million tonne integrated steel plant.
Speaking about the Jamshedpur expansion project, Nerurkar said it was on schedule.
He said expansion would be concluded by June-August 2011 which would take its installed capacity to 10-million tonne from the current 6.8 million tonne.
Tata Steel has not been able to resume construction on the proposed steel plant as per its targeted schedule due to resistance by the people of affected villages.
Speaking about the steel market, he said, the demand was good, but prices were not improving due to global over capacity.
Whenever prices tend to increase some country dumps steel in India.


GSPL plans gas pipeline from Gujarat to Odisha
Paradip: The Gujarat State Petronet Limited (GSPL) plans to lay a natural gas pipeline from Gujarat to Odisha on a BOT basis at a cost of Rs 6,000 crore in an effort to expand its business venture to the eastern part of the country.
The GSPL, a subsidiary of the Gujarat State Petroleum Corporation (GSPC) recently submitted an expression of interest to the Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board for the laying of the pipeline.
The company officials indicate that after the approval of project, it will take about three years to complete.
The 1,600 km long pipeline starting from Surat (Gujarat) will be running across four States passing through Amravati, Nagpur, Bhandara, Durg, Bhillai, Raipur, Angul and Cuttack to Paradip.
The GSPL views the demand for gas along the routes through which the pipeline would pass.
It is expected that apart from fuelling industrial growth, the pipeline would also help in the development of backward areas along its route.
The GSPL has held discussions with Mahindra and Mahindra, Bhilai Steel Plant and ACC Cement for sale of natural gas.


NJCS meeting fails, CITU threatens indefinite stir
Rourkela: Alleging that the National Joint Committee for Steel (NJCS) meeting once again failed for the 18th time in a period of 34 months, as the INTUC representatives backed out, CITU state general secretary and NJCS member Bishnu Mohanty on Monday threatened to go on an indefinite strike for wage revision for both regular and contract workers of SAIL.
The SAIL employees were to get a wage revision from January 1, 2007, but though 34 months have elapsed, the authorities are yet to effect the wage revision despite 17 sittings of the NJCS.
Finding no other alternative, CITU called for a strike in all units of SAIL on October 30 and 31.
The overwhelming support by workers cutting across unions, by joining the strike, has made SAIL take notice of the unions in calling for the next NJCS meeting on November 12 and 13.
The non-attendance of the INTUC and HMS at the last moment threw the spanner.
Mohanty alleged that on the first day of meeting both INTUC and HMS representatives gave a proposal of a 78.2 per cent DA merger and a 30 per cent MGB along with a 10-year agreement.
The management asked the union representatives to come with one common proposal and the union, represented by CITU National president MK Pandhe, came up with a 78.2 per cent DA merger, a five-year agreement, 30 per cent MGB, 3 to 3.5 per cent cumulative benefit along with the contract workers wage revision proposal.
In the two-day meet, the management on the first day agreed to 78.2 per cent DA merger and a five-year agreement, the other issues were kept for the next day.
Despite being a sensitive matter involving 1.04 lakh regular and 75,000 contract workers, the INTUC representatives Sanjeev Reddy and MDN Panikar reached late.
The management offered 19 per cent MGB and 2.25 per cent incentive on the 2005 agreement and in regard the contract workers, the matter is to be taken up in the sub-committee.
Though it was jointly decided by the unions on the previous day, CITU took a rigid stand on MGB and cumulative incentive and urged for fringe benefit at par with the officers.
It also said if the contract workers matter would be kept in abeyance till its discussion in the sub-committee then an interim allowance of Rs 1,000 should be declared.
But in a sudden turn of events, it extended support to the management, walking out of the meeting and not turning up later.
Thus talks were postponed for the next NJCS meeting.
The attitude of the INTUC indicates a conspiracy to stall the wage revision agreement, alleged CITU.
The CITU has called for an early sitting of NJCS to sort out the imbroglio otherwise they have threatened to go on an indefinite strike.
Mohanty has urged all pro-worker trade unions to join them in the fight.
Among others, Banamali Dhupal, Biman Maity, Jahangir Alli, and Basanta Naik were present.


BSA Motors unveils five new model electric scooters
Bhubaneswar:BSA Motors, a strategic business Unit of Tube Investments of India (TII) and part of the Rs 15, 907 crores Murugappa group, has unveiled five models of BSA Motors electric scooters for the first time in Odisha here on Monday.
BSA Motors also announced an exclusive offer for its customers here.
The customer will get cash card offer of Rs 2,000, battery warranty for one year and can also save up to Rs 23,340 over a period of two years.
Unveiling the product rang, S Krishnaswamy, general manager, BSA Motors, said that the company sees its entry into the electric scooter market as a logical extension of its current business, from bicycles to electric two wheelers.
BSA Motor’s foray into the electric scooters category helps us to expand our portfolio in the two wheeler market, he said.
The five models of the BSA Motors electric scooters are: Smile, Diva, Street Rider, Roamer and Roamer+.
Each electric scooter will have four colour options with the exception of Diva which will have five colour options.
The unique features of these electric scooter models are its protective safety switch, twin passenger foot rest, ergonomically designed seats, great storage space, side reflectors and many other innovative features.
The forte of BSA Motors lies in product design and top notch quality, company sources said adding that of the five models, three models are in 250 watts, one in 500 watts and one in 800 watts.


Frankfinn launches First Impressions
Bhubaneswar:Frankfinn Group, a well-known trainer in aviation, hospitality and travel sector, has launched ‘First Impressions’, a soft skill and grooming course.
The course was formally launched by Partha Bose, regional head of Frankfinn in presence of centre head, Sukumar Dash here on Monday.
What had started off as a test marketing exercise in 2008 is now rolling out as a range of courses that have been christened First Impression Studio, First Impression Lab, First Impression Clinic, First Impression Campus Lab, First Impression Campus Clinic, Hello India and Makeover.
For those who wish to set up their own business and make a career as an image consultant, they have introduced a special course, First Impression Image Consultant ~ first certified course in image consulting in India.
Frankfinn also recently rolled out a corporate training division called Frankfinn Corpexcel, corporate trainers to emerging India. Frankfinn's strength lies in its expertise in soft skills training whereas most of the other companies in corporate training have a technical training background and hence are not able to do full justice.
Course durations vary from a few days to few months, and can be customized according to the client's need and start from a very nominal price of Rs 3,000, Bose said.




Centre to invite bids for three UMPPs soon
Bhubaneswar: The qualifying bids for three Ultra Mega Power Projects (UMPPs) in Orissa, Chhattisgarh and Tamil Nadu would be invited by the end of the current fiscal, a senior government official said on Sunday.
By the end of this fiscal we would issue RFQs (Requests for Qualifications) for the three UMPPs in Chhattisgarh, Tamil Nadu and Orissa after resolving the issues, Power Finance Corporation (PFC) Chairman and Managing Director Satnam Singh told reporters in New Delhi.
There are problems associated with land acquisition in all the three states.
PFC is the nodal agency for the 4,000 UMPP each project.
The RFQ for the Akaltara UMPP in Chhattisgarh is most likely to be the first one to go, he said.
The government has so far awarded four UMPPs, three of which have been bagged by Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group company Reliance Power in Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh and Jharkhand.
Tata Power is developing one UMPP at Mundra in Gujarat.


Economic blockade lifted from PPL
Paradip: The four day siege of Paradip Phosphates Ltd (PPL) and economic blockade of its residential colony was called off on Saturday following negotiations between villagers who had locked the main gate to the plant and colony, company authorities and the district authorities.
An amicable settlement was reached with the company reportedly agreeing to deposit over Rs 14.45 crore with the district administration towards compensation as demanded by the agitating land-losers.
The issue was pending for over a decade, said villagers.
Thousands of land losers under the banner of Paradip Regional Farmers Welfare Committee had laid siege to the plant and the residential colony. Employees and family members were in distress as ration dried out.
All of them heaved a sigh of relief yesterday after the villagers called off their agitation.
Reliable sources said that acting on the instructions of the revenue divisional commissioner, Ashok Meena, the Jagatsinghpur district collector, Gyanranjan Dash invited leaders of the land losers and the PPL authorities for a discussion on 13 November.
The oustees claimed that nearly 2,500 affected families were yet to receive compensation amount towards land acquisition which had been done way back in 1982.
Plant had acquired 1,509 acres of private land in which authority acquired their land at a very low rate.
They alleged that the rate of per acre was Rs 24,000 while the land losers have received compensation at the rate of Rs 10,000 to 12,000 per acre.
Several farmers who got less amount filed writ petition in the High Court which had directed payment of additional Rs 14 .45 cores to the land losers towards their compensation.
This was not carried out, alleged the villagers.
Local MP Bibhuprasad Tarai, suggested the PPL authorities to pay Rs 14.45 cores to meet the compensation of land-losers.
He also stated that the company should deposit the amount with the district administration which in turn should disburse it amongst genuine land losers.
Other demands like employment, pollution, peripheral development and other basic facilities will be discussed on 11 December in the presence of land-losers and company representatives.
Ranjan Basu, vice president (operations) informed that he will present the demand of land losers to the board of directors for approval.
Farmer’s committee spokesman, Piatamber Tarai and other land-losers' leaders highlighted their issues.
The meeting was presided over by the district collector.


NTPC working on allotted coal mines
Bhubaneswar: : Power firm NTPC on Sunday said that it is developing coal mines allotted to it for captive use and added that it takes 6-7 years to harness a mine even by international standards.
NTPC's statement comes amid reports the Ministry of Coal has written to the Power Ministry, threatening to de-allocate the coal blocks allotted to NTPC citing reasons such as delay in developing those mines.
No, we are developing all the five mines allotted to us, NTPC Chairman and Managing Director R S Sharma told reporters in New Delhi here, adding that it takes about 6-7 years to develop a coal mine, as per international benchmark.
We were awarded the first mine in 2005 and work is on in all the coal blocks allotted to us, Sharma added.
The country's largest thermal power generator, NTPC, was awarded five coal mines— Dulanga, Talaipalli (Odisha), Pakri-Barwadih, Chatti-Bariatu, Kerandari (Jharkhand) and Dulanga with a mining potential of 48 million tonnes per annum (MTPA).
The company is also developing two coal blocks- Brahmini and Chichropatsimal in Odisha in a 50:50 joint venture with Coal India Ltd.
NTPC has a dry fuel requirement of 150 million tonnes during the current fiscal, of which it would import 12.5 million tonnes.
The company is looking at acquiring coal properties abroad in order to bridge the shortfall from domestic supplies.


Cargil India workers on hunger strike
Paradip: Fifteen workers of Cargil India, engaged in packaging of imported soya oil at Paradip, staged a dharna from October 13 to November 8.
As the dharna failed to have any effect on the management, they went on a hunger strike at the main entrance from November 9.
Though the workers have intimated the management and the district administrations about their demands, so far none has responded.
Two workers on hunger strike, Manas Swain and Laxmikant Nayak, were shifted to the local Biju Memorial Hospital.
Utkal Port and Dock Workers Union general secretary Bibhuti Ranjan Panda has appealed to the management, the district administration and the District Labour Officer for their intervention.
He has also drawn the attention of the chief minister’s in this regard.


Vodafone opens outlet in Paradip
Paradip: Vodafone after making its presence in most of the major places in Odisha have finally entered the port town by opening their showroom and outlet at Badapadia.
Sales manager of Vodafone, Odisha Debasish Mitra inaugurated the showroom.
The company has declared some attractive offers for the customers.
The company has appointed Shree Oum as the franchisee.
Among others, zonal manager Bijan Satpathy and regional manager Satya Sundar Das and the business partners of Shree Oum Nibru Bahan Das, Umashankar Mohanty, Jyoti Shankar Mohanty were present.



Inter School games begins
Keonjhar: The State level Inter School Games and Sports meet organized by the sports and youth services department began here on Friday.
As many as 2,500 players from the State excluding Sundargarh district are in the medal race.
The players will participate in athletics, archery, football, basket ball, volley ball, badminton, table tennis, weight lifting, wrestling and hokey events of the meet.
The games will be played in different grounds, Keonjhar Stadium, DD College, OSME Ground, Park Ground, Indoor Stadium, DN High School Ground and Government Girl's High School Ground.
Padmashree and former Indian Hockey skipper Dillip Tirkey was felicitated at the inaugural function.




Highways funding: Odisha among nine states sign Central pact funding
New Delhi: Nine states including Odisha have signed an agreement with the Centre to develop highways after the transport ministry made it essential to do so to access Central funds.
Soon after taking charge, Union transport minister Kamal Nath had made it mandatory for the states to sign the State Support Agreement (SSA) under which the states would have to acquire land for highway construction to get Central funds.
Earlier, the Central funds were released to states without any conditions, leaving it for the private developer to acquire land, which not only delayed the projects but even stalled these at times.
According to senior ministry officials, Odisha, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Punjab, Haryana, Assam, Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra signed the SSA so far.
The agreement requires also the states to ensure that no competing highway or toll-ways are developed in violation of the terms and conditions, under which the government gives out projects to private developers.
The SSA also stipulates the states to assist the Concessionaire in obtaining access to all necessary infrastructure facilities and utilities, including water and electricity.
It would also ensure that any local bodies, including panchayats, do not obstruct the highway project or levy any taxes.
About 20,000 kms of national highways is targeted to be upgraded to two-lane standards in Phase IV of the National Highways Development Project.
This phase does not come under the purview of National Highways Authority of India and is to be executed directly under the supervision of the transport ministry in association with the states.



 

Pollution norms: Nalco comes out with clarification
Angul: In response to the media reports that Nalco has been served a notice by the Odisha Pollution Control Board (OPCB) to implement a time-bound long-term plan for disposal of ash from its captive power plant (CPP) at Angul or face closure of the power units, the Central public-sector company on Friday came out with a clarification.
The company in a release admitted that a high-power committee had visited Angul on October 12 to study the stability and safety of Nalco’s ash-ponds.
It also explained that presently, the heights of ash-pond dykes are being increased from 104 metre to 107.5 metre.
With this, the ash-slurry could safely be stored for approximately two more years. Moreover, there is no plan to enhance the height of the dykes beyond 107.5 metre.
The release stated that for future requirement, the Mahanandi Coalfields Ltd has allotted an abandoned quarry in the Bharatpur area, which is about 25 km from Nalco’s CPP, for filling ash.
After evaluating the technologies available for back-filling the void and reclamation of the land, Nalco has initiated a time-bound action plan.
This is being apprised to the statutory authorities for necessary clearances.
The release further stated that Nalco is a responsible corporate citizen with a clear focus on environmental safety in all its operations.
Hence, Nalco authorities have reassured the public of its commitment in this regard.




HSL shipyard in Odisha likely
Mumbai State-owned Hindustan Shipyard Ltd (HSL) plans to build a large shipyard to accommodate very large crude carrier ships (VLCC) at an estimated project cost of Rs 3,000-4,000 crore, a top official said.
The proposed shipyard, which will be built on a public-private-partnership model, is expected to receive cabinet approval by the end of this fiscal, HSL's Chairman and Managing Director, Naresh Kumar said on the sidelines of SMM India's shipping trade fair.
We will be building one shipyard in Odisha or Andhra Pradesh.
We expect the Cabinet approval for this by the end of this fiscal, Kumar said, adding that the shipyard is expected to get operational in three to four years.
Once the project receives cabinet nod, the shipyard will start the process of inviting bidders, he said.
The first phase of project would involve ship repairing while the building of VLCC vessels will start in the second phase, he said.
The estimated project cost for the first phase is Rs 1,000 crore.
Presently, Hindustan shipyard has an order book of Rs 2,000 crore, which includes one from Chennai-based Godorth Martin to construct a bulk carrier of 53,000 tonne capacity, expected to be completed by 2012, he said.
HSL has bagged an order from Indian Coast Guard to build five Inshore Patrol Vessels (IPVs), apart from an order from ONGC to repair oil rigs, Kumar said.
Also, the shipyard has received an order from Indian Navy to rebuild and modernize a submarine, he said.
HSL clocked a turnover of Rs 500 crore in the last fiscal and expects to increase the number by another Rs 50 crore in the current fiscal, Kumar said.
The shipyard, so far, has built 170 new vessels and repaired over 2,000 ships.

Children’s Day offer
Bhubaneswar:Reliance Big TV has announced a one-day offer on Children’s Day. According to this offer, all Reliance BIG TV subscribers watching any of the current showcases on its PPV channels will be entitled for a free 24-hour access to the children’s film ‘Maruti Mera Dost’.

Titan to hold contest
Bhubaneswar:Titan Watches has announced Titan India Today Be More Legends contest ‘The search for explorers’.
The contest is open till 30 November.
An eminent editorial panel will judge the entries and shortlist six finalists.
Stories of these six finalists will be celebrated and people would be asked to vote for the final winner of ‘Titan Be More Legend’.

MK Gupta elected OEEMA president
Bhubaneswar: Managing Director of Gupta Power Infrastructure Limited MK Gupta has been voted new president of the Orissa Electrical and Electronics Manufacturers’ Association (OEEMA).
A renowned industrialist of the state is widely known for his contribution to the infrastructure development, particularly for Odisha, Gupta is the member of Confederation of Indian Industry, Utkal Chamber of Commerce and Industries and many other business and social associations.
His new assignment has been felicitated by the members of the association, who hope that under Gupta’s leadership, the Association would be active in protecting local interests.

IFFCO Vigilance Week concludes
Paradip: IFFCO Paradip concluded its Vigilance Awareness Week on Thursday under the chairmanship of IFFCO Executive Director MR Patel.
He encouraged the employees to work honestly in accordance with the company’s guidelines.
Vigilance Officer SR Maurya and HR Chief Manager RS Nair stressed the importance of being vigilant for the growth of the organization.
The event inaugurated on November 3 finished with a prize distribution ceremony, following the debate, quiz, essay, slogan and art competitions held for IFFCO employees and their families during the past week.

Jindal to get berthing facility at Paradip
Paradip:Jindal Steel and Power Limited (JSPL) has entered into an agreement with the Paradip Port Trust (PPT) under the port’s berth reservation policy introduced last month for berthing of coking coal and limestone cargoes.
The new policy has been introduced for boosting imports by steel plants located in Odisha and neighouring states.
The policy is applicable only for the steel producing companies.
The Tata group was the first to sign an agreement with the PPT, followed by VISA Steel and public sector SAIL.
The Jindal group has grabbed this opportunity for its ships which were earlier getting delayed due to non-availability of berths.
A ship, Hong Yu, was the first vessel of the Jindal group to berth on Thursday under the berth reservation scheme.

OSL diversifies into hotel business
: Paradip:The Orissa Stevedores Ltd (OSL) headed by Mahimananda Mishra as its chairman has made forays into the Hotel Business.
They are the leading stevedoring company at various Indian ports, besides Paradip.
They own the Gopalpur Port Company also.
Besides shipping, retailing, steel plant, automobile dealerships and education they have recently entered the hospitality industry.
Hotel Empires, earlier known as the Hotel Country Inn and Suites was inaugurated on November 8 here.
Another hotel in the same name is functioning at Bhubaneswar.
Empire hotel is coming up at Puri.
On the inauguration day, there was music show by noted pop singer Vandana Kashyap and her party from Mumbai.
Dignitaries of Paradip, local media, shipping agents and PPT officials were invited to the inaugural ceremony.
It is expected that the OSL group which has excelled in their earlier ventures, would also click in this new venture too.

Mining firm adopts green measures
Bhubaneswar: The Essel Mining & Industries Ltd (EMIL) has established itself over the last 50 years with three iron ore mines at Jilling-Langalota and Kasia in Keonjhar district and Koira in Sundargarh district.
Last year, the mines produced about nine million tonnes of iron ore.
The Jilling-Langalota Iron & Manganese Mine of EMIL was adjudged the best in the non-fuel sector and won the prestigious Balagulshan Tandon Excellence Award 2008-09.
The company has harmoniously integrated its business vision with its social vision.
Geo scientific studies are carried out to ensure that the environment is not harmed in anyway.
The use of rock breakers has made secondary blasting minimal in these mines.
Besides this, eco-friendly hydraulic drill machines are used to control noise and bring in greater efficiency.
Dumping is done only on non-mineral bearing, non-agricultural and non-grazing land. Proper dump and slope height are taken care of.
Trees have been planted in the slopes and terraces of the dumps to ensure greenery.
Dry fog machines and automatic water sprinkling systems operate at the crushers and haul roads.
The measures taken by EMIL have greatly contributed to the production and productivity, besides creating a congenial and professional environment for the workers.
The company has adopted 24 villages in six panchayats of two districts to improve the rural quality of life.
Development of infrastructure, education, health and family welfare measures are regularly taken up for social uplift.
Commenting on whether there was any truth in the rumors that the Dako Nalla had been polluted, a company employee said the report was totally concocted.

Oil ministry to ensure 5 pc ethanol blending by oil marketing cos
Bhubaneswar: The Centre on Thursday asked the petroleum ministry to ensure that oil marketing companies compulsorily sold petrol mixed with 5 per cent ethanol.
The government had in November 2006 mandated that ethanol should be blended in a 5 per cent proportion with petrol to be sold throughout India, except in areas like North-Eastern states and Jammu and Kashmir.
Subsequently, it stipulated that the amount of ethanol in petrol may be optionally ramped up to 10 per cent from October 2007 and made compulsory with effect from October 2008.
However, OMCs like the Indian Oil, Bharat Petroleum and Hindustan Petroleum could not even implement the 5 per cent blend due to shortage of ethanol.
The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) on Thursday made it mandatory for OMCs to sell 5 per cent blended petrol.
CCEA reiterated an earlier decision that there shall be a mandatory blending of 5 per cent of ethanol.
It has instructed the petroleum ministry to ensure that all OMCs implement the decision, home minister P Chidambaram told reporters in New Delhi after a CCEA meeting.
He said that in order to ensure that there was no supply dislocation of ethanol, a small group of officials representing the ministries of food, consumer affairs, renewable energy and petroleum would be constituted.
According to official sources, there was 84 per cent shortfall in procurement of ethanol by OMCs this financial year.
Till September, OMCs procured only 4.75 crore litres of ethanol, compared to a prorated tender quantity of 30.25 crore litres.
No procurement has been made so far in West Bengal, Orissa, Chhattisgarh, Tamil Nadu and Madhya Pradesh, while other states like Maharashtra have recorded a shortfall of 98 per cent.
Procurement has also been extremely low in Uttarakahad, Kerala and Gujarat.
A group of officers will be constituted to ensure that there is no supply dislocation so that ethanol produced by the sugar industry is easily available to OMCs and the blending programme can go forward without any hitch, Chidambaram said.
He said that the group of officers will monitor demand-supply situation of ethanol and ensure that the environment-friendly programme is implemented in letter and spirit.
Chidambaram also dispelled apprehension that there was shortage of ethanol, saying there is enough ethanol in the country, adding, there was no reason why temporary dislocation in supply should derail a good programme.

IMMT to participate in metals expo
Bhubaneswar:The Institute of Minerals and Materials Technology (IMMT), Bhubaneswar, will participate at the Metals Minerals Manufacturing Expo 2009 in Kolkata starting from November 14.
The four-day event is being organized by the Indian Institute of Metals (IIM).
The Expo will showcase varieties of metals and minerals production technologies, automation breakthroughs, latest international processes and equipments and tools.
More than 40 foreign trade delegations including delegations from Australia, Austria, Belgium, China, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Malaysia, Mexico, Russia, Singapore, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, UK, USA and Pakistan are participating in the exhibition.
The event is being held to celebrate Eastern India’s surging minerals industry.
A whopping US $ 300 billion is being invested in the Eastern States of India in the next few years.
The majority of these investments are in Odisha and Jharkhand, followed closely by West Bengal and Chhattisgarh.
India is today the fifth largest producer of crude steel.
The IIM’s 47th National Metallurgists’ Day and the 63rd Annual Technical Meeting and Symposium will be held concurrently with the Metals Minerals Manufacturing Expo 2009.

PPT signs MoU with Essar
Paradip: Paradip Port Trust (PPT) on Tuesday entered into a concession agreement with Essar Paradip Terminals Ltd for construction of a deep draught coal berth that would be developed at an estimated cost of Rs 408.80 crore, sources said.
Essar Paradip would complete the construction of the project under build, operate and transfer basis within 36 months from the date of award of the concession.
Paradip port would provide all supporting facilities like dredging of channel, railway connectivity for the development of the berth.
On completion of this coal berth, the capacity addition to the port would be 10 MTPA, they said adding that since the dredging of the channel is in progress, the depth of the proposed channel and berth would be 17.1 metres which would facilitate to handle large cape size vessels up to 125,000 DWT.


YES Bank hosts Knowledge Forum for stakeholders
Bhubaneswar:YES Bank hosted a Knowledge Forum for members of the Association of Industrial Entrepreneurs of Bhubaneswar (AIEBA) and Bhubaneswar Engineering Syndicate (BES) at the AIEBA premises to facilitate sharing of knowledge, insights and best practices with the stakeholders.
Branch Banking (East) Regional Business Leader Gaurav Sharma gave insights on YES Bank’s Knowledge Proposition, the Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) landscape and the opportunities in Odisha.
Transaction Banking VP Manindra Saxena focused on YES Bank as a facilitator for trade.
To effectively address the needs of India’s growing enterprises YES Bank has established YES Prosperity-Business which focuses on delivering superior banking solutions to SMEs and this is backed by a team of experts meant to provide the required specialized guidance.
YES Bank seeks to empower the country’s sunrise sectors.


Vietnam invites Odia entrepreneurs
Bhubaneswar: A Vietnamese delegation attended a seminar on Trade, Investment and Tourism Opportunities in Vietnam organised jointly by the Odisha Chapter of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and the Embassy of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam here on Tuesday.
In his keynote address, Ambassador Extraordinary and head of the visiting Vietnamese delegation Vu Quang Diem emphasised the attractions of Vietnam as an ideal destination for trade and investment.
He invited entrepreneurs from Odisha to take advantage of his country's great climate, hard-working labour, friendly people and an environment that is free from any terrorist activities unlike India.
He pointed out that though the growth rate has been slow India already is in the top ten list of investors in Vietnam and the bilateral trade has shown a 500 per cent growth of 0.5 billion to 2.5 billion US dollars in less than five years.
He hoped that the two year old Strategic Partnership between the two countries will be able to bring growth and balance in the trade between the two countries which is now hugely in India's favour.
Commerce Attache of Vietnamese Embassy in New Delhi DO Trong Hieu reeled out impressive statistics to emphasise the magnitude and attractiveness of the Vietnamese economy.
The Second Secretary of the Vietnamese Embassy Nguyen Trong Kien made a presentation on the cultural and Tourism opportunities there.
The audience was quite responsive to the presentation and delegation was flooded with questions on any issues of investment like limits on ownership of ventures, banking laws, mining issues, etc.
Earlier, the delegation was welcomed by convener of the Travel and Tourism Panel of CII-Orissa JK Mohanty, who made a presentation about socio-cultural and economic aspects of Odisha.


BSNL to expand 3G network across Odisha
Bhubaneswar: The Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) will expand its third-generation (3G) network across Odisha by the year-end, a senior BSNL official told reporters here recently.
BSNL launched 3G services, a mobile communications system that enhances performance of multimedia applications, high speed mobile broadband and Internet access, in the state on March 25.
Currently, the service is available in 33 urban centres throughout the state, said BSNL chief general manager AN Ray.
According to Ray, the service will be launched in other centres by the year-end, which includes Paradip port town and district headquarters of Keonjhar, Balasore, Bhadrak, Jajpur, Rayagada, Boudh and Phulbani.
The service will be launched in these towns in phases during the current year, he said.

OSIM launches uZap, uSqueez in city
Bhubaneswar: OSIM, a world leader in healthy lifestyle products, has launched its new products, uZap and uSqueez, in Bhubaneswar. uZap is a belt massager which zaps your fat away and uSqueez is a foot massager to provide relief to the negative effects of everyday stress on the calves, ankles and feet all at once.
According to OSIM India MD Shaily Grover, “With uZap get your perfect figure and walk with confidence. uSqueez has been specially designed to relax your stressed foot, he said.


Sponge iron unit shut down
Keonjhar: The Odisha State Pollution Control Board (OSPCB)’s regional office has closed down the Shree Jagannath Metallic Industries Private Limited operating in Palaspanga under Sadar sub-division for violating pollution control norms.
The 200 MT sponge plant operating in Khaparakhai and Tihadipasi revenue villages causing pollution by non-operation of pollution control devices.
This was causing adverse environmental impact in the peripheral villages, informed OPSCB regional officer Niranjan Mallick.
The decision for immediate closure of the plant was taken after satisfactory inspection and tests carried out in the affected villages under Sections 31(A) of Air (PCP) Act, 1981. Public resentment was brewing against six such sponge iron plants operating in Barbil since in 2006-07, he informed.
Notably, continuous allegations were being levelled against some sponge iron plants of not operating their pollution control devices mostly in the tribal-dominated Champua of the district and Bonai sub-division of Sundargarh district, said an industrial observer.


CESU observes Vigilance Week
Bhubaneswar: The Central Electricity Supply Utility of Odisha (CESU) held a function at IDCO Towers to mark the Vigilance Awareness Week.
In the presence of the CESU CEO Swapan Kumar Dasgupta, the employees took oath to fight corruption.
CFO Bibhu Prasad Mohapatro, COO RN Mohanty and CCO KV Durgaprasad attended the event.
The event was coordinated by HRO SK Mishra and PRO GB Sahu.


PPT’s berth reservation policy boon for steel plants
Paradip: The berth reservation policy of the Paradip Port Trust for the steel manufacturing industries has attracted many steel plants in Odisha.
The reservation policy, which started from October 15, was utilized by private sector steel plant Tata Steel, whose six to seven ships were berthed using this policy of the port.
Thereafter, another steel plant Visa Steel entered into agreement with PPT to use the opportunity to get early berthing of their ships.
Now the public sector steel plant Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL) is likely to enter with an agreement with PPT for the said berth reservation policy.
Earlier, the Odisha High Court, in its order, had directed the PPT to allot berths to the ships carrying the cargo of SAIL on priority basis.
However, this order was of little help to the public sector as their ships were not given berths immediately and they had to wait for at least a couple of days.
However, if SAIL enters into the agreement with PPT for berth reservation, their ships will also get the benefit like other private sector steel plants.
The PPT, in order to encourage import of cargo, has decided to keep reserved two of its berths for steel manufacturing plants for their import of raw materials for the plant like coking coal and limestone cargo.
The PPT is following the policy of first-come-first-serve policy of all the vessels calling at the Paradip Port.
However, the steel plants are suffering as the ships carrying cargo of various traders who are importing cargo through Paradip Port for trading purpose are delaying the ships of steel plants, resulting in disruption in production of the steel plants situated in Odisha and neighbouring states.
The berth reservation policy has given a boost to the steel plants as they can now minimize their losses by way of early berthing instead of waiting at anchorage for 15 to 20 days.
The port congestion, which was for 20 to 25 days a few months back, has now come down to only six to seven days as there is less demand on iron ore by principal importer China which has discouraged the ships to call at the Paradip Port to load iron ore.
However, this berth reservation policy has been made for six months till March 31, 2010 on an experimental basis.


NTPC likely to start TTPS expansion in mid-2010
Bhubaneswar:: The much-awaited expansion of Talcher Thermal Power Plant (TTPS) of National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) is likely to begin in mid-2010.
We will prepare feasibility report for the expansion plan in January next and then go for notification inviting tenders (NIT).
NTPC is likely to begin expansion work some time in the middle of next year, NTPC Chairman R S Sharma said here after meeting chief minister Naveen Patnaik at the State Secretariat here on Friday evening.
The plant is expected to generate as much as 1,320 MW of power after its expansion, sources said.
NTPC, which bought over 460-MW Talcher unit from the state government in 1993, was planning to ramp up the capacity by adding two super critical units of 660 MW each with an investment of Rs 5,000 crore.


FCI Talcher plant to resume production soon: Jena
Sambalpur: Union minister of state for chemicals and fertilizers, Srikant Jena in a review meeting with the RDC (ND), collectors of Sambalpur and Bargarh, officers of agriculture department and sales officers of fertilizer companies assured adequate supply of chemical fertilizers to the state for the coming crop.
The Centre during the last kharif season supplied fertilizers to the state more than its demand, Jena said in the review meeting with facts and figures.
The Union minister during his first visit to Sambalpur was given a warm welcome by Congress activists led by the president of district Congress committee (DCC), Sureswar Mishra.
During a media conference in the evening in Congress office, Jena said that the Talcher plant of the Fertiliser Corporation of India (FCI) would be revived soon for the greater interest of the state and country.
Five such closed fertilizer units would be opened soon and Cabinet decision in this regard has already been taken, he informed.
After sanction of revival package, global tender for renovation would be floated, he said.
If proposal from urban local bodies of western Odisha would be submitted to the Centre for inclusion of more towns under Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM), the latter would consider the request. Jena said this since the chief minister during his current visit to New Delhi has placed such demand for Cuttack city only leaving all others behind and not a single one from western Odisha.
The Congress has no intention to politicise the issue of farmers’ suicide all over the state. Our only request to the state government is to realise the problems of the farmers and take a stand to safeguard their livelihood,” Jena said.
The minister also hinted on the proposed ESI hospital at Rengali and opening of generic medicine stores to sell medicines at affordable prices in every district headquarters hospital.
Senior leaders of the party including Sriballav Panigrahi, Narasingha Mishra, Kishore Patel and Duryodhan Gardia hold discussion with the minister on various problems of the region and the state.


Transport stir: Power plants face crisis
Angul: NTPC, Nalco and various other power plants are facing power crisis as contract workers engaged in coal transportation have struck work here at the MCL.
Around 8,000 contract workers consisting of drivers, helpers and supervisors have called for a total strike, demanding wage hike, medical facilities and other benefits. Coal transportation from Hingula, Bharatpur, Jagannath, Balaram, Ananta, Lingaraj and Bhubaneswari mines of MCL have come to a halt.
The 3,000 MW Talcher Super Thermal Power Project of NTPC is now producing 1250 MW less power.
Power transmission is disrupted to southern and eastern region states.
As against a daily requirement of 14,000 tonnes of coal, Nalco received only 4,000 tonnes of coal on Friday.
Presently it has only two days of stock at hand.
About 70 lakh tonnes of coal is lying at MCL.
Coal transportation by rail has also been affected as coal needs to be carried from the colliery to the railway siding by tippers.
MCL PRO said that it is not possible to enhance the running contract works to pay more to the striking workers.
Talcher sub-collector told that the administration was not intimated about the strike. Disruption of coal transportation could lead the administration to promulgate ESMA.


Supplies dept helpline gets good response
Bhubaneswar: The toll-free number ‘155335’is buzzing nonstop. Callers are complaining about non-availability of kerosene, sugar and LPG. APL family members are asking about the non-supply of ration cards in Khurda district.
Farmers are calling up to know about the modus operandi of paddy procurement in Nuapada and Kalahandi districts.
On the opening day on Thursday, the Sanjog Helpline already registered more than 100 inquiries and complaints.
And it is receiving calls every minute from all parts of the state.
People are happy that their queries are responded promptly and assured with timely action.
Officials in the department of food supplies and consumer welfare (FSCW) are baffled over the flooding of calls.
They had never imagined the level of dissatisfaction over the PDS.
The officials are busy sorting out complaints and sending them to their concerned counterparts for immediate redressal.
The department’s secretary, Manoj Ahuja, who was sitting at the call centre for more than an hour, was astonished at the level of the people’s response.
Senior IAS officers are also calling up to check if the Sanjog Helpline is really working or is a farce, said a top official.
As per the government announcement, the complaint receiving system was made operational on November 5 and the public response is spontaneous, said Ahuja.


Completion of NTPC projects in time
Bhubaneswar: The National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) on Thursday assured the Odisha government that all its ongoing power projects in the state would be completed in due time.
Following the assurance, the state is hopeful that it will be power surplus in the next two to three years and will overcome the power shortage.
The assurance to this effect came during a high-level meeting between energy minister Atanau Sabyasachi Nayak and NTPC Chairman RS Sharma at the State Secretariat here.
Briefing newsmen after the meeting, Nayak said that the state government was hopeful that NTPC would take up all its ongoing projects seriously.
The NTPC is planning to set up two of its mega power units, one each at Darjipalli in Sundargarh and Gajamara in Dhenkanal.
The power production of the NTPC unit at Talcher would be enhanced.
Once it is extended, it would be able to produce about 1320 mw of power.
While the land for TTPS has been identified and acquired, NTPC is yet to acquire land for its two projects.
However, the state government has expressed resentment over NTPC’s tardiness in expediting rural electrification under the Rajiv Gandhi Gramin Vidyutikaran Yojana.
The NTPC has taken up rural electrification works for 12 districts.
While two districts have been taken up during the 10th Plan period, another 10 districts have been taken up under the 11th Plan period.
The works of rural electrification has been completed in two districts and works is yet take off in other districts.
Sources said the work has been delayed as a result of contractor giving sub-contracts. Land acquisition and lack of coordination have also added to the problems.


Balanced use of fertilizer vital for food security
Bhubaneswar: Governor MC Bhandare on Thursday said that the diminishing area of cultivable land and growing demand for food cannot be effectively matched without bringing a balance in use of fertilizers and nutrients for agriculture.
Inaugurating an international symposium on ‘Role of Potassium in Improving Nutrient Management for Food Production, Quality and Reduced Environmental Damages, here, he stressed on resource conservation technologies and restoration of soil quality as essential for sustainable agricultural growth.
OUAT vice-chancellor Prof DP Ray observed that there is an acute lack of knowledge among farmers regarding the role potassium plays in improving crop-yield. This is more so in case of horticulture.
Statistics showed that over 30 kg of mineral per hectare is used for agricultural activities every year and 62% of it is used for rice crop alone.
Potassium is one of the 17 essential plant nutrients.
As over 90 percent of potassium is located in the straw itself, the field would retain potassium if it is left in the field after harvesting or if it is burnt in the field. Unfortunately, it does not happen, in many areas in the country the fields are entirely depleted due to continuous mining without proper replenishment.
The result is low or declining yield in spite of adequate or sometimes overuse of other fertilizers.
Chairman of Western Odisha Development Council Prof Niranjan Panda focused on the benefits of conservation efforts.
He also spoke on the role of proper water management in boosting agricultural output. Organising secretary D Jena presented facts and figures to project the importance of potassium and ever widening gap between the required and the available amount of this nutrient in the soil.
The symposium, organised by the Odisha University of Agriculture and Technology (OUAT) in association with the International Potash Institute (IPI), Switzerland, and the International Plant Nutrition Institute (IPIN), Canada, in the OUAT campus, is to continue till Saturday.
About 300 delegates and eminent scientists, including 30 abroad, are participating.
As many as 34 lead papers and 152 posters will be presented.

 

RSP MD calls for eradication of corruption
Rourkela: We must endeavour to reduce corrupt practices by adhering to well-laid down procedures, said managing director of Rourkela Steel Plant (RSP) SN Singh in his address at the Vigilance Awareness Week celebrations that commenced here on Tuesday. We must try and identify the reason behind corrupt practices and find solutions that eliminate these root causes, he said, adding that by this we also mean reducing the points of contact between the suppliers and purchasers in a bid to check malpractices.
Among others, RSP ED (P&A) SS Mohanty and ED (Works) NP Singh also spoke on the occasion.


Boost bank staff-customer interaction
Bhubaneswar: The State Bank of India on Thursday organized a function to observe the Vigilance Awareness Week at its local head office here.
Speaking on the occasion as the chief guest, Director of Vigilance Anup Kumar Patnaik pointed out that bank-frauds are on rise in an increasingly mechanized scenario owing to the decrease in personal contact between the customers and the bank-employees.
Meticulous compliance of KYC norms should not be limited only up to verification of data, he said, adding that the bankers should be encouraged to strengthen their relationship with the customers and interaction must be increased between the two parties.
SBI CGM Bhubaneswar Circle Shiva Kumar, who presided over the function, emphasised the importance of internal vigilance for the growth of the organization.
SBI General Manager JM Jamkhandi stressed that security measures have a direct impact on the bank’s reputation and financial standing.
Banks are the custodians of public wealth and the Vigilance Awareness Week should remind the banks about their duty to the public, said other SBI General Manager Bhaskar Niyogi.
The chief-guest gave away prizes to the winners of an essay competition organized to mark the event.
The vote of thanks was proposed by SBI Chief Manager (Vigilance) PK Mohanty.
 

OMC Daitari Mines get safety reward
Bhubaneswar: The Odisha Mining Corporation (OMC) has been rewarded by the Vice-President of India Hamid Ansari for mines safety.
OMC’s Daitari Iron Ore Mines received the award for ‘Zero Accident’ in mining for the year 2007.
One of the largest Iron mines of the state, OMC Daitari has continuously been receiving honours for the last four years for its accident-free operations.
Manager of Daitrai Iron Ore Project Abhiram Sahoo received the award recently at a ceremony in New Delhi, organized by the Directorate General Mines Safety.



IFFCO holds Vigilance Week
Paradip: IFFCO Paradip observed Vigilance Awareness Week from Tuesday.
The program was inaugurated by IFFCO Executive Director MR Patel who also administered the oath of this program.
Vigilance Officer SR Maurya spoke of the importance of alertness for the growth of the society.
Chief Manager (HR) RS Nair briefed the employees about the agendas of the week-long program which is being planned with an attempt to create awareness among IFFCO employees and the people of Paradip.

CITU chief to visit Rourkela
Rourkela: The call of the Steel Employees’ Trade Union (SETU), an affiliate of the CITU, for a strike on October 30 and 31 met with tremendous response from the workers of the Rourkela Steel Plant, sidelining other Unions in its success, has bolstered the local and the Central leaders to strengthen the Union.
To address the members of SETU, central president of CITU Dr MK Pande would be coming on November 5 at the Telephone Bhawan ground.
Even though the leading two unions INTUC affiliated Rourkela Shramik Sangha (RSS) and Rourkela Mazdoor Sabha (RMS) an affiliate of Hindustan Mazdoor Sabha stayed away from the strike, but could not affect the widespread response of the workers.
Members of the RSS and the RMS deserted their camps, joining hands with SETU, despite the opposition of other Unions.
Though 17 times meetings were held by the NJCS to finalize the wage revision of SAIL, of which INTUC, HMS, AITUC and CITU are members, but failed to make an impact on the SAIL authorities.
CITUs call for strike in the entire country in all the units of SAIL had a resounding success, as the aggrieved workers were deprived of their demands since 34 months.
The RSS and the RMS dubbed the desertion in their ranks as temporary.
However, the workers feel that CITU is more oriented to the interests of the workers than other Unions.


Settle SAIL workers' wage or face indefinite stir: CPM
Rourkela: CPM-affiliated trade union CITU, which staged a two-day strike in SAIL from October 30, on Monday threatened to launch an indefinite strike if the authorities failed to reach an agreement on the settlement of wages for the workers.
The two-day strike by the employees of SAIL on October 30 and 31 was a total success and the adamant management should settle their wages pending for the last 34 months, Bishnu Mohanty, general secretary of the Orissa state unit of the CITU, told newsmen here.
He added the National Joint Committee on Steel, which deals with the wage agreement, should settle the wage issue of 140,000 million SAIL employees and 75,000 contractual labourers in its meeting on November 12.
The management, meanwhile, added the loss in Rourkela Steel Plant due to the two-day strike amounts to about Rs 10 crore.


34th CIL foundation day celebrated
Sambalpur: The 34th foundation day of the Coal India Ltd (CIL) was celebrated with revelry at Mahanadi Coalfields headquarters here on Sunday. On this day, the CIL and its five subsidiaries came into inception in 1975.
A mass rally was held from Anand Vihar to Jagruti Vihar which was flagged off by MCL CMD Sriram Upadhyay.
Speaking on the ideology of Gandhi in the present scenario, chief guest SN Sahu official of the prime minister’s office said Gandhi’s philosophy and life are borne out of his practical experiences which is relevant today and would remain so in the future.
He suggested Gandhian philosophy is the panacea to all crises not only for India but to the world. Gandhiji showed the path to entire world and has received universal acceptance.
Upadhyay presented the glorious history of MCL that has successfully completed 17 years, with production touching 100 MT.
The CMD gave thrust on coal production to meet the ever growing demand amidst rapid industrialization.
Sahu gave away awards to the authorities of Basundhara open cast mines, Lingaraj and Belpahar mines for their outstanding performances.
The evening wore a colourful look with ghazals from Penaz Masani.
Among others, former CMDs and senior officials of the MCL were present.


Presidency to host Chhadakhai with hilsha delicacy
Bhubaneswar: Chhadakhai, the annual festive day which falls after the full moon day of the month of Kartik is a day awaited by Odias with a longing for non-vegetarian food after a month-long abstinence.
Taking note of the month-long abstinence from non-veg food following the Kartik month, city-based Hotel Presidency has come up with a non-vegetarian combination of culinary platters on Chhadakhai for the food lovers of the twin city from November 3 to 8.
The delicacies offered will be mutton, chicken, crab, hilsa and prawn cooked in the original Odia traditional style.
It will be pre-laid with the main course comprising rice, dal, shrimp mixture, tomato khata, potato masala fry and mixed vegetable.
The main attraction the Hotel says will be the hilsa, the king of fish.
The hilsa, the national fish of Bangladesh, is quite popular in the eastern India will be offered in different varieties.
The panta hilsa, ilish khichuri, shorshey ilish, ilish pulao and smoked hilsha, which are part of the Bengali cuisine, will be offered.




GI registration for Odisha handloom products
Berhampur: In a bid to empower economically backward weaver community in the state, the Odisha government has identified at least eight handloom sub-products for Geographical Indications registration.
The products identified for the GI registrations are Sambalpuri tie and dye, Nuapatna tie and dye, Berhampur Kumbha design, Sonepur-Bomakei design, Pasapalli design of Bargarh, Dholapathara temple design, Khandua fabrics of Nuapatna and Habbas of Kalahandi.
We have engaged IIT-Kharagpur to provide assistance for getting the products registered with GI, Chennai, state textiles and handloom department secretary Arati Ahuja said.
GI is a sign used on goods that have a specific geographical origin and possesses qualities and reputations that are essentially attributable the place of origin.


Production from Hindalco’s new facilities may start by 2011
Bhubaneswar: Expansion projects of aluminium major Hindalco Industries are on track and production is expected to start by FY 11, a top company official said.
Production of alumina from Utkal Alumina refinery is expected to start around July 2011.
The construction of 1.5 million TPA greenfield project, Utkal Alumina refinery at Rayagada, Orissa is in full swing,” Hindalco’s Managing Director, Debu Bhattacharya said in Mumbai on Sunday.
The first metal from the smelter of Mahan Aluminium project in Madhya Pradesh would also roll out by July 2011. It has a capacity of 3,59,000 TPA and a captive 900 MW power plant is also coming up at Bargwan, Bhattacharya said.
The company has already acquired major chunk of land and has placed orders for both the smelter and the power plant.
Our Aditya Aluminium Project’s first metal from the smelter (in Odisha) is slated for October 2011. The refinery would be mechanically completed by June 2013.
The first metal from the smelter of Jharkhand Aluminium Project is also expected by June 2013, Bhattacharya said.
Hindalco’s integrated aluminium project, Aditya Aluminium is coming up in Orissa, with a 1.5 million TPA alumina refinery, 359,000 TPA aluminium smelter, and 900 MW captive power plant. Major orders have been placed for both the smelter and the power plant, Bhattacharya said.
The Jharkhand Aluminium Project is an aluminium smelter coming up in Sonahatu, Jharkhand, with a capacity of 359,000 TPA and 900 MW captive power plant.
The land acquisition process has commenced and the company is trying to get the environmental clearance.
The company has obtained water allocation for 55 MCM of water from the Subarnarekha basin.
The first metal from the smelter is expected by June 2013, he said.
Among its brownfield expansion projects, the smelter expansion of Hirakud unit from 143 KTPA to 155 KTPA was completed on time. Work on the smelter expansion from 155 KTPA to 213 KTPA is now underway, part of this will be completed by July 2010 and the rest will be commissioned in FY 12.
Project is underway for transfer of all key equipments for flat rolled products, from Novelis Plant at Rogerstone, UK to Hirakud. This will enable us to produce can body stock for local and export market. The project is slated for completion in Q2 FY 12, Bhattacharya said.
The special alumina production from Belgaum will be ramped up to 316 KTPA from 138 KTPA.
A 18 MW Cogen power plant and a railway siding facility will also be taken up as a part of the project which will reduce cost of production substantially.
The company plans to raise around Rs 3,000 crore (USD 600 million) through an equity sale to fund its ongoing projects.
This may include qualified institutional placement (QIP) or sale of shares in overseas markets through the GDR route, Chief Financial Officer S Talukdar said.
The company has a capital expenditure plan of Rs 23,000 crore over the next three years. It plans to fund 70 per cent of its capital expenditure through debt. Rest of the financial requirement would be meet with equity infusion and internal accrual, Talukdar said.


Vedanta revives Rs 10,000 cr power project in Punjab
Bhubaneswar: Global metal and mining major Vedanta Resources has decided to revive its about Rs 10,000- crore independent power project in Punjab that it had put on hold last year.
We have taken a decision to revive the 1980 MW Talwandi Sabu project in Punjab. We will soon take a call on reviving 1980 MW power project planned in Orissa, Vedanta Resources vice chairman Naveen Agarwal said during an analyst call conference in New Delhi last week.
Chairman of Vedanta Group Anil Agarwal led company put the Punjab power project on hold after global metal prices crashed by over 50 per cent, which pushed the company to reduce the capex for next four years by about USD 5 billion.
The metal and mining major is undertaking its commercial and captive power projects in India under the aegis of Sterlite Energy, which last week filed a draft prospectus with SEBI for an initial public offer to raise up to Rs 5,100 crore from the capital market.
The subsidiary of Vedanta's flagship firm Sterlite Industries intends to use the net proceeds to partially finance the construction and development of the Talwandi project. The proceeds will also be used to partly fund the 2,400 MW upcoming power plant in Orissa.
Sterlite Energy plans to set up power projects with total capacity of 11,000 MW in the next few years.


Tata Steel to tap emerging artists
Bhubaneswar: In order to provide a platform to the artists from where they can reach more people than they could otherwise, Tata Steel on Sunday organized ‘Art in Industry’, a camp-cum-exhibition.
As many as 24 eminent artists are participating in the four-day event.
While 18 are local artists, six are from Bhopal, New Delhi, Patna and Benaras, the organisers said adding that the exhibition will be kept open for the guests and visitors between 10 AM to 5 PM.
Well-known artists taking part in this art camp-cum-exhibition include, Dr Dinanath Pathy, DN Rao, Shiv Panigrahi, Byomekesh Mohanty, Baldev Prasad Maharath, Yusuf, Pranam Singh and Milan Das.
While inaugurating the camp, vice-president, Orissa Project, Tata Steel Ltd, BK Singh said that the artists are blessed with the ability to create brilliant pieces of art. But they definitely need support to showcase their creations on a bigger platform.
Our aim is not only to create a market for the creations of the participants, but to also provide an opportunity to the lesser known talents and to take their creations to people and appreciate art, he added.
The concept of Art-in-Industry dates back to 1943 when Tata Steel was one of the prize-donors of an exhibition and sale of art held in JJ School of Art, Mumbai, wherein artists were invited to compete for prizes and scholarships.
The aim even then was not merely be able to sell the entries or acquire the paintings, but also to bring the talent of lesser known artists to the notice of leading industrialists and patrons of art, Singh said.


RSP workers hail CITU bandh
Rourkela: The CITU-sponsored two day strike call demanding new wage agreement, permanent employment for labourers working at the Rourkela Steel Plant (RSP) here received overwhelming support.
The strike covered all the SAIL constituent units including mines.
The two day strike observed on 30 to 31 October was a success as workers abstained from duties.
Five major units of the RSP, steel melting shop (SMS) I and II, silicon mill, hot strip mill (HSM), cold rolling mill (CRM) and two blast furnaces were badly hit and the production of the plant came almost to a grinding halt.
It is estimated including RSP the SAIL has incurred a huge loss of production and revenue.
Workers picketed in front of the RSP gate and the attendance was as low as 30 per cent. RSP official sources, however, insisted that the attendance was 50 per cent.
The situation got a fillip when Rourkela Shramik Sangh the AITUC affiliated recognised union lend its support to the strike.
We have extended our support to the strike and we are sure that the SAIL management would certainly listen to it, said Prasant Behera, president of RSS on being asked why they were hesitant to join initially.
Meanwhile, the CITU has termed it as a big moral victory.



Stir hits RSP production
Rourkela: The two-day all India strike launched by the Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU) has hit steel production at the Rourkela Steel Plant (RSP).
The CITU has been demanding wage revision as the National Joint Committee on Steel (NJCS) failed to sort out this issue despite several rounds of meetings at New Delhi.
The official spokesperson of the RSP admitted that normal work and production were affected and the attendance was about 52 per cent on Saturday.
No disciplinary action against any worker had been initiated so far.
The strike, which began on Friday has hit most of the important departments like SMS-II, blast furnaces, silicon steel mill, cold rolling mill etc.
The workers affiliated to the CITU organized demonstrations at different entry points to the plant obstructing anyone's movement through them.
However, no untoward incident has been reported, official sources said.