RSP installs new system to improve environment

Rourkela:A new dust extraction system has been installed at the lime kiln of the lime and dolomite brick plant of the Rourkela Steel Plant (RSP) in order to have a cleaner environment.
As the kiln did not have the facility earlier to improve the situation, installation of a dust extraction system was envisaged, RSP sources said today.
Initially the project was planned to be completed at a cost of Rs 85 lakh but with the combined effort of the environment engineering department and IDBP, many spare and idle equipment from various plants were salvaged, serviced and used to put in place the system which helped in reducing the cost to about Rs 43 lakh, they said.
With the installation of this new system, the emission level at the chimney has come down to less than 50 milligram per normal metre cube against the norm of 150 miligram per normal metre cube, the sources said.

Sail to modernise ore mining

Rourkela:Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL) has taken initiate to modernise its total mining system for quick and proper use of iron ore in the country, its director (personnel) and in-charge of the Raw Material Division (RMD), Ganatantra Ojha has said.
Raw materials are not being utilised properly due to lack of modernisation, causing material loss, Ojha told reporters at Kalta iron mines, about 130 km from here yesterday.
All the natural resources are not un-limited, we have to use it deeply considering the future, he said adding the government should re-consider its policy of import of iron ore as it may not be that beneficial to the nation.
He said many steel plants have come up. Many big and small plants are also coming up but no one can be compared with the Sail, Ojha said adding for the last 50 years, Sail had been working for the interest of the nation despite many adverse situations.
Ojha said Sail was committed to fulfill the people's dream and their expectations. We were committed to improve the life of the workers and people.
Referring to mining activities in Kalta areas in Sundargarh district, Ojha said because of very bad road condition, the iron mines were not giving a committed result as loading and siding consumed maximum time.
Priority should be given to improve the roads, as the government was getting huge revenue from the mines, he said.
Ojha during his daylong visit, inaugurated a model steel village near Kalta mines with SAIL providing drinking water, new stadium, construction road, community centre and school.
Sail plans to open many more steel villages by providing all facilities to improve the living condition of the local people, Ojha said.
Executive director (RMD) Kiran Kapoor was present on the occasion.
 

Air travellers offered attractive packages

Bhubaneswar The city-based Swosti Travels has come out with low-cost hybrid foreign tour packages to create a mass awareness programme for different budgeted overseas trips.
The package cost starts from Rs 17,000 to Bangkok and Pattaya for a four-night-five-day itinerary that includes both-way airfares, accommodation, breakfast and sightseeing.
The costlier sector Mauritius and Singapore for an eight-day programme is kept at Rs 65,000.
A 12-day European tour would cost Rs 90,000.
 

New CII chairman, vice chairman elected

Bhubaneswar: Chief executive officer (CEO) of Dhamra Port Company Ltd SK Mohapatra has been elected chairman of the Confederation of Indian Industry's (CII) Orissa State Council for 2008-09, while SS Nandurdikar, Managing Director of Paradip Phosphates Ltd has been elected its vice-chairman.
A former IAS officer, Mohapatra had earlier served as chairman of the Pradip Port Trust before moving as managing director of the Sardar Sarovar Nigam, Gujarat and then taking voluntary retirement to join as CEO of the Dhamra Port Company.
Nandurdikar, a BTech in mechanical engineering from IIT Mumbai, has achieved a turnaround for PPL since 2005-06.

Nalco gives dresses to children of Mali Sahi

Bhubaneswar:Public sector aluminium major National Aluminium Company has provided more than 300 pairs of dresses to the destitute children of Mali Sahi here.
Executive director BN Swain on behalf of Nalco provided the dresses on Thursday.
Among others, secretary of voluntary body Sakar, Swarupa Rani, and Nalco GM (H&A) DB Bhanj, DGM (admn) Harish Pradhan and SM (admn) DK Panigrahi were present.

Tata Parivar women scale new heights

Bhubaneswar: From tribal women to community leaders it's a long journey for the tribal women of Kalinga Nagar in Jajpur district.
These tribal women, who spent 18 days last year in honing their leadership skills at a development training camp, have now taken care of the health and hygienic system of their community with trained health members.
They also have their kitchen garden to provide fresh vegetables to their family members.
With almost all their children studying in good schools, the women are now on the drivers' seat on their way to prosperity.
This apart, they have also acquired the business management skills, as their home made products comprising pickles and jelly reaching the local market.
This new-found confidence and skills are a result of Divyajoti SHG that was formed by rehabilitated tribal women from Kalamatia.
The SHG started their workshop in Sansailo to empower tribal women and to find their true-self.
After taking loan from the State Bank of India, they set up their pickle factory. Tata Steel, which is setting up their 6-MT plant, has provided them with a trainer to prepare hygienic pickles and jelly.
While these 10 women made four quintals of pickles in the first month, they now have a target to produce 60 quintals in the first year to repay their bank loan. In the initial days, the SHG has also received various acclamations from distinguished citizens.
This is not the only activity that the women of Tata Steel Parivar are doing. Last year, on International Women's Day, nearly 200 women from various parts of Kalinga Nagar assembled and discussed their learning, achievements, excitement and a shared vision for the betterment of the quality of their life.
The endeavour, which started with few tribal women, has been expanded into 20 SHGs with 257 members.
A savings of Rs 2.74 lakh has been generated and they received Rs 19,000 from interest and other incomes.
They have mobilised an internal loan of Rs 2.77 lakh and received Rs 4.17 lakh from bank to increase their breadth of activities.
The initiatives include 11 poultries (each of 350-bird capacity), two goateries, stitching of school dresses, phenyle and vermi compost, apart from vegetable production.
They have also planted 4,000 saplings of mango, papaya, lemon, drumstick, banana, teak, Australian teak, subabul, acacia and Indian gooseberry (amla) in Sansailo and Trijanga Rehab Colonies.
The women have also developed a small garden to preserve the traditional medicinal plants in the colony.

Chinese railway delegation in city

Bhubaneswar:A high level Chinese Railway delegation headed by WU Wei, director of Sino-India Railway Co-operation Working Group along with 12 members
held discussions with AK Goyal, general manager, East Coast Railway, and his team of senior officers here on Monday in the context of developing Bhubaneswar
railway station to a world class one.
Welcoming the delegation, Goyal briefed them on the performance of East Coast Railway in general and the Bhubaneswar railway station.
The Chinese delegation later visited Bhubaneswar station and the proposed a site for the New Bhubaneswar railway station near Barang.
The group would study various pros and cons of the proposal of developing a world-class station that can serve the twin cities of Cuttack and Bhubaneswar.
The delegation is scheduled for a discussion with the railway ministry officials later.

RSP organises eye camps

Rourkela: Focussing on healthcare in the periphery, Rourkela Steel Plant (RSP) organised an eye check-up camp for students and elderly people under Project
Sunayana. As part of the project, a total 531 persons, including 250 students were examined by specialists from ophthalmology department of the Ispat General
Hospital (IGH).
Of the adult under-privileged people who had attended the camp, eight were identified for free cataract operation at IGH, official sources said on Tuesday.
The plant has launched the project recently to provide eye care facilities to the elderly under privileged people residing in the periphery villages.
Expanding the area of activity, a series of eye check up camps were organized for school children of the 16 villages adopted by the RSP as model steel villages.
 

CII stresses on infrastructure development 

Bhubaneswar: The annual day meet of Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), Orissa chapter began here on Tuesday. CII had organised ‘InfraEx’, the exhibition on
infrastructure in which 37 corporate houses and various government departments and agencies participated.
Inaugurating the annual day meet and InfraEx, state industries and rural development minister Biswabhusan Harichandan said that Orissa is a rich state with mineral
resources, forest, ground water, coast line and has embarked upon industrial path to find its place among the most developed states.
While earlier mineral resources were exported, they are now exploited here to get maximum benefit, he said and added that the state government is updating and
modifying industrial policy to facilitate the industrial drive.
Maintaining that infrastructure as one of the most crucial component of industrial uprising, he pointed out that Public Private Partnership (PPP) is one of the excellent
modes of infrastructure development.
Describing R&R policy of the state as the best, he said that industry plays an important role in generation of employment.
Despite opposition from some quarters, industry should come up as this serves majority of the population, he pointed out.
Speaking on the occasion, urban development and public enterprises minister KV Singhdeo said that with industrialisation, the state has also developed in terms of
infrastructure.
Observing that still something more is to be done by the state government to give the already rising industrialisation a boost, he felt conducive labour law and speedy
decision are crucial factors.
Orissa is not limited to Bhubaneswar only said Singhdeo and urged the industrial houses to look beyond the capital city for a holistic development.
Also present on the occasion, energy and IT minister Surya Narayan Patra said that with industrialisation, the state has got its own identification and is one of the most
favourite investment destinations.
He said that Orissa fares well at infrastructure development in all sectors.
In his speech, CII eastern region chairman Biswadip Gupta lauded the commitment of the Orissa government for industrialisation and stressed on infrastructure
development.
Also present on the occasion, CII, Orissa vice-chairman Santosh Kumar Mohapatra said that the PPP mode is a better option for it.
He described the meeting and exhibition as a platform for various sectors to showcase their performances, share ideas and discuss with policy makers.

New SCHC president

Bhubaneswar: BJP leader Om Prakash Ray was elected the president of State Cooperative Housing Corporation (SCHC) on Monday.
It may be mentioned here that the election for 21 director posts of SCHC was held on February 13.
While 20 directors were elected uncontested, the post of the director was lying vacant.
Ray was the only candidate who had filed five set nomination papers.

MoU

Bhubaneswar: The Icfai University has entered into a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the state of South Australia to set up a campus in Adelaide.
The MoU was signed by the prime minister of South Australia Mike Rann and Icfai University chairman Prof Subhash Sarnikar in New Delhi on Tuesday.

SAIL donates Rs 50 lakh to Netaji Museum

Bhubaneswar: Announcing a donation of Rs 50 lakh for installation of light and sound system at the Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose Museum in Cutack, Union steel minister Ram Vilas Paswan on Monday said that he would take up the issue of development of the museum with the prime minister.
Paswan who visited the museum on Sunday told newsmen here that the museum-cum-birthplace in Cuttack should be developed into a tourist destination.
I would take up the matter with the prime minister and urge him to develop the museum, he said, adding that many valuable materials used by the legendary leader were lying scattered due to lack of proper care.
There should be a planned design to make this museum a remarkable place, he said adding Rs 50 lakh would come from Steel Authority Of India Limited (SAIL) funds. Paswan said that Netaji's birthplace, Janakinath Bhavan in Odia Bazaar of Cuttack was an important place for the entire country.

ECoR launches CRS on web

Bhubaneswar: General manager of the East Coast Railway Ajay Kumar Goyal on Monday inaugurated the web enabled ‘Complaint Redressal System’ on the ECoR website www.eastcoastrailway.gov.in at the its railway data center at Rail Vihar, Chandrasekharpur here.
Speaking on the occasion, he said that ECoR has focused on customer service and grievance redressal.
The commercial department with the help of IT wing of the East Coast Railway has developed and designed the CRS which is one of its kind to take off in any of the zonal railways and is all set to begin a new chapter on the customer-focused service of Indian Railways.
Goyal said that the computerised system provides a transparent window to inform the current status of the complaints or grievances of Railway’s customers at large at any of the stations or trains within jurisdiction of the East Coast Railway.
Based on the realistic study of the users’ requirements, it has been designed on a three tier analogy in which the first level of users register the details of the complaints received centrally at the divisional headquarters, Khurda Road, Sambalpur and Visakhapatnam by remotely uploading requisite information to the website.
The second level users’ i.e. commercial authorities have the privileges of closely monitoring the compliance action by the railways and the third level of public domain provides exclusively access to the complainants at large who can easily find the status of the complaint by correctly typing their name and station or train on the search fields of the website.
Earlier, Deputy chief manager (IT) Santosh Kumar Patnaik, explained the functioning of the user friendly system makes the redressal process a prompt and transparent exercise. Among others, Ajit Kumar Patnaik, chief commercial manager and other senior officers of the ECoR were present on the occasion.

Airtel announces contest for customers

Bhubaneswar: obile service provider Bharati Airtel Limited on Monday announced ‘Press star to copy’ contest for its customers.
The programme is a unique and instant way of copying the hello tune of the user someone is calling to make it his own.
The customers have to press the star button while listening to the hello tune of the person he is calling before the person at the other end receives the phone.
This way a subscriber who has downloaded at least one song by pressing ‘star’ would be eligible to enter into the contest and win gold gift vouchers worth Rs 5,000.
For downloading a hello tune by pressing star, Rs 20 would be charged per hello tune.
Speaking on the occasion, Shivan Bhargava, Coo, Airtel, Orissa said that Airtel is committed to deliver innovative mobile services solutions that delight the customer’s mobile experience.
With the pioneering value added services like ‘hello tunes’, ‘music on demand’ and ‘easy music’, the music experience on the mobile transcends to the next level for the subscribers, he added.

SAP bags Leadership Award

Bhubaneswar: Frost and Sullivan, an independent consulting firm, has conferred SAP, one of the leading providers of business software, with ‘Market Leadership Award for Enterprise Application Software’.
The award is in testimony of market leadership across the total enterprise application software market in India, including enterprise resource planning (ERP), customer relationship management (CRM) and supply chain management (SCM).
According to the latest Frost and Sullivan report on the enterprise application software market, SAP leads the overall market with an estimated share of 42.5 percent of the total Indian market in terms of revenues for 2006.
Across enterprise application categories, SAP dominated with market share of 36.5 percent (ERP), 34.8 percent (CRM) and 33.2 percent (SCM).

Workshop on skill development 

Bhubaneswar: The All India Management Association (AIMA) in collaboration with the Bhubaneswar Metropolis Management Association (BMMA) organized a workshop on skill development relating to technology management and access to finance.
Speaking at the workshop, senior executives of several banks and SIDBI spoke about the approach and methodology that can be adopted by entrepreneur for successful utilisation of resources.
BS Pani of Spam resources and representative from Udyog Vikash narrated their experiences on technology management.
The two technical sessions were chaired by Bijaya K Bose, GM, SIDBI and Niranjan Mohanty, president, UCCI.
Dr JS Juneja, of AIMA gave an overview at the SME sector in India, the problems faced by them, steps taken by RBI to increase the outflow credit to SME sector etc while principal secretary, industry department Chinmaya Basu, dealt various issues both at micro and macro level.
The meeting was presided by BMMA president BB Mishra while the welcome address was given by Syed Maqbool Ali, executive vice president BMMA.
Among others, Kamal Singh, director CMD, AIMA and Dr SK Tamotia, vice chairman and director, Bharatiya Vidya Bhawan were present on the occasion.
 

RSP all set for record output

Bhubaneswar: Rourkela Steel Plant (RSP), a unit of Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL), is all set to establish new records in its performance during 2007-08. Official sources said here that the steel plant completed a sterling performance during February 2008 and also set up all-time best performance for the period April 2007 to February 2008 as compared to any corresponding period since its inception.

RSP had commenced the 2007-08 fiscal with the strategy of maximising its volume of production by operating at over 100 per cent of annual rated capacity to bring down production costs for maximising its profitability.

In line with this strategy the steel plant created history by surpassing its annual rated capacity in hot metal (2.0 MT), crude steel (1.9 MT) and total saleable steel (1.671 MT) during the first eleven months of the fiscal itself doing so for the first time since inception.

The month of February witnessed production of 2,84,085 tonnes of sinter, 1,86,720 tonnes of hot metal, 1,79,217 tonnes of crude steel and 1,71,584 tonnes of total saleable steel that represented more than 100 percent fulfillment of the annual performance plan.

Simultaneously, these figures correspond to phenomenal growth of nearly 27 per cent in sinter, 13 percent in hot metal, 13.5 percent in crude steel and 15.8 percent in total saleable steel compared to February 2007.
The dispatch of steel during the month at 1,75,537 tonnes also corresponds to a growth of 18 per cent compared to February 2007, the sources said.

By producuing 3.15 million tonnes of sinter, 2.03 million tonnes of hot metal, 1.91 million tonnes of crude steel, 1.87 million tonnes of saleable steel and dispatching 1.84 million tonnes, RSP had established the best ever level for any April-February.

With this production it had also showed growth of 11.6 percent, 3.3 percent, 3.7 percent, 4.3 percent and 3.9 percent respectively in the above items compared to the corresponding period last year, the sources said.

Capacity utilization has been unprecedented during this period with sinter at 111 percent, hot metal at 114 percent, crude steel at 109 per cent and saleable steel 122 percent of rated capacity.

During the first eleven months of the current fiscal, the finishing units of RSP also came up with sterling performance.

It registered the highest ever performance in the output of total hot rolled coils (14,58,671 tonnes), plate mill plates (442,306 tonnes), hot rolled coils for sale (692,198 tonnes), hot rolled plates (2,87,942 tonnes) and CRNO from silicon steel mill (73,481 tonnes) with growth of 3.6 percent, 3.8 percent, 3.8 percent, 6.8 percent and 4.4 percent respectively in these items over the corresponding period of last fiscal, the sources added.

Tax holiday withdrawal to hurt profitability: IOC

New Delhi: The Indian Oil Corp on Monday said that the move to withdraw tax holiday to new refineries would result in lowering of profitability of its Rs 24,000-crore Paradip refinery in Orissa.
The rate of return on capital invested in the 15 million tons a year refinery cum petrochemical plant will be lower by 1.5-2 percent, IOC Chairman Sarthak Behuria told reporters here.
It may be mentioned here that the Union finance minister P Chidambaram had in his Budget for 2008-09 proposed to end seven-year income tax holiday for refineries commissioning after April 2009.
Behuria said that investment proposal for the Paradip refinery is likely to be cleared by May/June this year.
We are making a representation to the finance minister.
When there is intent to make India a refining hub, why are we robbing it of tax incentives that are crucial for the survival of the units, he said.

Nalco pays interim dividend

Bhubaneswar:Leading manufacturer and exporter of alumina, the National Aluminium Company Limited (Nalco) has paid an interim dividend of 45 per cent on the paid-up capital of Rs.644.31 crore, amounting to Rs.289.94 crore for the financial year 2007-08, official sources said.
According to an official release, the dividend amount of Rs.252.67 crore on the 87.15 per cent shares held by the central government was handed over to Union minister for mines Sis Ram Ola, by Nalco CMD C R Pradhan, in New Delhi on Monday.
The balance amount of Rs.37.27 crore has been disbursed to other shareholders like banks, financial institutions and individual shareholders, it said.

SPCB defers hearing on Tata Power

Cuttack:A public hearing by the State Pollution Control Board's (SPCB) on the proposed Tata Power Plant at Naraj was adjourned indefinitely on Monday following a group clash by the pro and anti-industry people.
Though it was not a formal lathi charge, the police were forced to disperse the mob by resorting to mild force, informed Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Soumendra Priyadarshi.
Sources said that going by the provisions the SPCB had earlier served a 45-day clear notice to the local people for a public hearing on the proposed plant.

High excise duty hit corrugated box industry

Bhubaneswar: President of Eastern India Corrugated Box Manufacturers’ Association Hemant Saraogi on Monday said that the excise duty of 14 percent proposed in the Union budget would adversely hit the corrugated box industry.
In a statement here, Saraogi said that the industry still attracts the highest rate of excise duty of 14 percent though excise duty on the basic raw material, excise on craft paper has been reduced to eight percent.
Besides paper mills that were clearing the first 3,500 mt at eight percent would now be clearing the material without any duty.
Thus corrugated box being an intermediate product for the end user industry is becoming more expensive, he added.
He, however, said that most of the corrugated box user industries like tea, biscuits, edible oil, cigarettes, diary products etc are outside the ambit of excise duty.
The corrugated packaging being eco-friendly, recyclable and a viable replacement to wood should be given a more rational treatment by the finance minister, he urged.
Stating that the final delivery of the goods to end users will also go up adding to inflation if the cost of corrugated box increases substantially, Sarogi said that the Centre should peg the excise duty at eight percent.

HIWL workers threaten stir

Bhubaneswar:Taking strong exception to the failure of talks with the chief secretary on Friday to resolve their problems, the employees and ex-employees of Hirakud Industrial Works Limited (HIWL) and IDCOL rolling mills on Sunday threatened to go for fast-unto-death from Monday.
It may be mentioned here that the Union has been staging dharna in the capital city for the 104th day (till Sunday) on demand of the cancellation of share purchase agreement with Kolkata based Varsha Fabrics Private Limited.
The union has also demanded payment of all pending dues of the regular employees, supply labourers and former employees.
In a statement issued here, Fanindra Patnaik, chairman of core committee of the union alleged that Varsha fabrics has failed to run the factory and has violated the terms and conditions of the share purchase agreement memorandum of settlement and directive of Orissa High Court.
He charged that the company has also dishonoured the resolution of meeting chaired by state industries minister.
Hence taking all these into consideration, the Union has no other way than to go for fast-unto-death, Patnaik said.

Big Bazaar announces new offers

Bhubaneswar:The Big Bazaar in the city launched the 'the great exchange offer', an opportunity to get rid of old goods in return for brand new ones, here on Saturday. The offer which will last till March 16.
Under the new offer, customers are allowed to exchange old garments, utensils, furniture or any other thing left unused for exchange coupons that'll be provided after the old goods are weighed.
The coupon can be redeemed against apparel, plastics, utensils, linen, luggage, footwear, toys, furniture and much more.
Besides, there is also another offer for direct exchange of mobile and electronic goods. Customers can buy brand new mobiles and electronic goods in exchange of their old ones, and avail of attractive discounts on their new purchases.
According to Rajan Malhotra, CEO, Big Bazaar, this exchange offer is a unique way of creating 'Best out of Waste'.
Offers like this give a chance to the housewives to get rid of old and unwanted clutter and refurbish their houses, he added.

SBI launches Coin Vending Machine

Bhubaneswar::Regional director of Reserve Bank of India Jagan Mohan Rao and chief general manager of State Bank of India MN Rao dedicated a Coin Vending Machine to the public at the SBI Main Branch at Unit-1 here on Friday.
With this, people can exchange Rs 10, Rs 50 and Rs 100 notes and get coins of the equivalent amount in Re 1, Rs 2 and Rs 5.
Only two coins can be loaded at a given time.
Among others, deputy general manager of Bhubaneswar Module Asish Kumar Kar, vice-president of SBI Officers' Association (zonal committee) Bibekananda Das and secretary of SBI Staff Association Bhakta Charan Mishra and assistant general manager of SBI Achutananda Parida were present on the occasion.
 

CESU to collect pending arrears

Bhubaneswar::The Central Electricity Supply Utility (CESU) has stepped up its effort to collect long-pending arrears on consumers to the tune of Rs 1,224.04 crore by the end of December.
A number of steps are being taken through its action plan to recover the arrears from the defaulting consumers, CESU sources informed.
The focus would be on high-value defaulting consumers, removing fictitious arrears by conducting receivable audit, and increasing collection efficiency by adopting suitable schemes, a CESU release said here.

Max New York launches new insurance scheme

Bhubaneswar::Max New York life insurance has launched a new insurance scheme ‘Lifeline’, a health insurance plan.
The lifeline series comprises of 3 distinct plans- medicash plan, wellness plans and safety net.
The medicash are hospital cash plans that provide the customer a fixed per day benefit for ICU admission, recuperation benefit and a lump sum benefit against unlimited number of surgeries, while the wellness plans are critical illness covers against 38 critical medical conditions.
The safety net is a term plus health protection plan, against any losses arising from critical illness, accident, disability and death.
 

Alkem launches new products

Bhubaneswar::Alkem health foods division re-launched its sugar and ghee free low-calorie ‘Jeevanprash’ recently.
This works fine for all age groups as the product has no sweetener and so has no bad effect on the metabolic cycles and systems, a company release said here.
Containing Brahmi and Ashwagandha, Jeevanprash improves concentration among the children, pointed out the company and added that it helps in cases of coughs, wounds, headaches and immune system deficiencies.
Being sugar-free, this is safe for diabetics, the company claimed.
The product is available in three sizes of 1 kg, 500 grams and 200 grams, the release added.

ASBM signs MoU with US varsity

Bhubaneswar::City-based B-school Asian School Business Management (ASBM), has signed an MoU with the US-based North Carolina Central University (NCCU) for faculties' and students' exchange programme here.
According to the Dean of School of Business, NCCU, Bijay Sahoo, as per the MoU, ASBM would send 60 students for orientation courses at the NCCU and, in turn, acquaint visiting students from the US with the Indian perspective of management.
ASBM founder-director Biswajeet Patnaik said that the ASBM is looking at courses such as International Business, International Finance and International Marketing and Entrepreneurial Education in which NCCU has excellent academic record.

Vedanta observes National Safety Day

Bhubaneswar:: The Vedanta Aluminium Ltd on Tuesday observed the National Safety Day in its premises at Jharsuguda.
The company organised an awareness programme for its employees and contractors associated with the project with an aim to impart training to employees and contractors on industrial safety.
The programme started with the unfurling of the safety flag by assistant director of factories and boilers MK Pradhan.
The safety pledge was administered to all in Oriya, Hindi and English.
Vijay P Kohale briefed the gathering on various initiatives taken by Vedanta in the sphere of safety, including awareness campaigns and in-house or external trainings on industrial safety and first-aid for employees and contractors, various safety contests and activities conducted during the past 15 days.
Vice-president Venkatkannada highlighted the responsibilities of the management in the fields of health, safety and environment and urged the employees to establish Vedanta as a role model in the field of HSE.
Pradhan stressed the need of execution of the Factories Act and Rules.
SN Patro emphasised the need for continual efforts in ensuring accident prevention.
On the occasion, the company awarded the winners of different contests including safety slogans, posters, best safety implementers and best safety performers, a company release said here.

South Korea to set up hotels in Orissa

Bhubaneswar:: South Korea has expressed keenness on setting up hospitality industries in Orissa.
In this connection, South Korean ambassador to India Han Chang Ang, met tourism and excise minister Debi Prasad Mishra during his goodwill visit to the state recently.
During the meeting, Ang informed that there was great interest in Korean food festival here and soon public and private industrialists would come to Orissa to hold discussions.
In the first phase a hotel or restaurant would be set up in the city that would be followed by projects in Paradip and Konark.Disussions were also held for cultural exchanges.
Ang also invited a cultural team from the state to take part in the spring festival in Korea. The minister, while thanking Ang for his interest in the state informed that earlier on only 525 Korean tourists visited Orissa and now it has gone up to more than 6,000.
Among others, Korean embassy's financial advisor Ki Hak Yang, press secretary Mi Nam and director of state tourism department Rabi Naryan Nanda were present.

Self employment counselling mela   

Bhubaneswar: In a bid to assist people for self-employment, the Orissa government has successfully organised self-employment counselling mela in all the 314 blocks of the state.
The melas, organised by state women and child development department and employment mission, have paved the way of self-employment for the unemployed needy, official sources said here.
As per the available data, during 2007-08 fiscal, as many as 56,276 physically sound and 44,770 physically challenged persons attended the mela and were counseled for self-employment.
While the mela for physically sound persons were organized between October and December, those for differently-able were conducted during January 10-30.
As per official records, in a bid to extend financial support to unemployed persons, the state government has forwarded 13,778 out of 29,094 applications to different government departments and 9,827 applications to banks.
Special training camps are in the pipeline for 3,682 persons, who had participated in the mela, the sources pointed out.

RSP all geared up for 2007-08  

Rourkela:Rourkela Steel Plant (RSP) is all set set new records in its performance during 2007-08.
The steel plant completed a sterling performance during February 08 and also set up all time best performance for the period April 07 to February 08 as compared to any corresponding period since inception.
The plant commenced the financial year 2007-08 with the strategy to maximize its volume of production by operating at over 100 percent of annual rated capacity to bring down production costs for maximizing its profitability.
In line with this strategy the steel plant created history by surpassing its annual rated capacity in hot metal (2.0 MT), crude steel (1.9 MT) and total saleable steel (1.671 MT) during the first eleven months of the fiscal itself, doing so for the first time since inception.
The month of February witnessed production of 284085 tonnes of sinter, 186720 tonnes of hot metal, 179217 tonnes of crude steel and 171584 tonnes of total saleable steel that represented more than 100 percent fulfillment of the Annual Performance Plan (APP) for the month.
Simultaneously these figures correspond to phenomenal growth of nearly 27 percent in sinter, 13 percent in hot metal, 13.5 percent in crude steel and 15.8 percent in total saleable steel compared to February 07.
The export of steel during the month at 175537 tonnes also corresponds to a growth of 18 percent compared to February last year.
By producing 3.15 million tonnes of sinter, 2.03 million tonnes of hot metal, 1.91 million tonnes of crude steel, 1.87 million tonnes of saleable steel and dispatching 1.84 million tonnes, RSP not only established the best-ever levels for any April-February since inception but also showed growth of 11.6 percent, 3.3 percent, 3.7 percent, 4.3 percent and 3.9 percent respectively compared to the corresponding period of last year.
It is noteworthy that during this period, capacity utilization has been unprecedented with Sinter at 111percent, hot metal at 114 percent, crude steel at 109 percent and saleable steel at 122 percent of rated capacity.
During the first eleven months of the current fiscal, the finishing units of RSP also came up with a sterling performance registering highest ever performance in the output of total hot rolled coils (14,58,671 tonnes), plate mill plates (4,42,306 tonnes), hot rolled coils for Sale (6,92,198 tonnes), hot rolled plates (2,87,942 tonnes), and CRNO from silicon steel mill (73,481 tonnes) with growth of 3.6 percent, 3.8 percent, 3.8 percent, 6.8 percent and 4.4 percent respectively in these items over the corresponding period of last fiscal.
 

US firm to set up biotech research, IT center in state 

Bhubaneswa::Next Generation Technology of New York would invest Rs 100 crore in biotechnology in Orissa.
The US company would set up a biotechnology research and IT development Centre in the state.
The company has requested the state government to provide 60 acres of land.
Chief minister Navin Patnaik has directed the director, agriculture, to identify land near Derasa near Chandaka on the outskirts of the capital city for the purpose.

IFFCO observes Safety Week  

Paradip:The Indian Farmers Fertiliser Cooperative Limited (IFFCO) observed the 37th National Safety Week on its plant premises on Tuesday.
The programme was inaugurated by IFFCO director KL Singh.
Speaking on the occasion, Singh said that said that lack of safety measures at workplaces was the main reason behind most of the industrial accidents and mishaps in the country. He called on the workers to maintain the required safety norms.
Present on the occasion, joint general manager (environment and safety) AP Singh spoke about the steps to be taken in case of an accident.
Among others, senior general manager MR Patel, general manager SS Tomar and DGM (HR) Santosh Mallick were present.

ECoR Shramik Cong threatens stir  

Jatni:The East Coast Railway Shramik Congress has decided to launch an action programme in protest against railway privatisation and surrender of vacant posts in the department.
They have further threatened to cease work in the interest of the labour class.
This was announced by the Union's general secretary BR Mohanty and divisional coordinator Ramesh Chandra Sahoo at a general body meeting presided over by president of the Online Branch Union Gopal Rao at Khurda Road on Tuesday.

IMFA gets safety award 

Bhubaneswar:The State Directorate of Factories and Boilers has recognized the manufacturing complex of the Indian Metals and Ferro Alloys Ltd (IMFA) for the best performance in safety, health and environment management in 2006.
At a function to celebrate the 35th State Safety Award, minister of state for labour and employment Pradipta Kumar Nayak handed the award to executive IMFA vice-president (operations) BD Sahoo.

State stalls Navbharat power pact with Delhi 

Bhubaneswar:The Orissa government has stalled an agreement aimed at procuring additional power to meet the Delhi's demands.
North Delhi Power Ltd (NDPL) had entered into a pact with Orissa-based Navbharat Alloys for purchase of 75 MW of power from April 2008.
However, the state government has refused to allow the company to transmit power to Delhi.
The state government wants Navbharat Alloys to sell the 75 MW to the government, which, in its turn, would supply it to Delhi.
It also wants to make money from the power that can be sold to other states.
The 75 MW was being sold at competitive prices, lower than the cost of power in the market.

SBI officers' body holds annual meeting

Bhubaneswar : The Bhubaneswar Circle State Bank of India (SBI) Officers' Association on Sunday held the annual general body meeting here.
The meeting was inaugurated by All India State Bank Officers' Federation (AISBOF) president Amarpal.
The meeting deliberated on various issues of the officers and employees of SBI, including pension benefits, transfer policies and merger with associate banks.
Addressing the meeting, AISBOF general secretary GD Nadaf said that there are as many as 90 issues that need to be settled by the management.
He said that the SBI has been able to carve a special place in the matters of banking due to hard works of the officers and employees.

HDFC Bank penalised

Cuttack:The Cuttack District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum (DCDRF) has penalized the HDFC Bank for illegally seizing a truck and selling it to a third party without serving any notice to the original customer.
The forum has directed the bank to return the seized truck within a period of one month along with a compensation of Rs 40,000 to the customer and has asked to pay Rs 10,000 to compensate the commercial loss of the customer arising out of the seizure of the truck and Rs 1,000 for cost incurred on filing of the case in the forum.
It may be mentioned here that one Gandharva Samal of Manitri village under Mahanga police station limits had taken a loan in 2005 for investment in business amounting to Rs 10,19,020 from the HDFC bank.
He signed on an agreement with the bank to repay the amount in 44 installments and purchased a truck with the loan money.
However, he failed to honor the agreement he had signed with bank after repaying 3 monthly installments.
The bank then on March 8, 2007 seized the truck.
Gandharva after the seizure somehow managed to get a draft of Rs 98,000 and a guarantor for recovery of his seized truck with due permission from the bank authorities on March 17, 2007.
But he was dumbfounded when he came to know from the bank that his truck has been resold to a third party.
But on inquiry it was found that the registration of the truck still remains in the name of Gandharva.
Later, he filed a case in the name of the bank accusing them of selling the truck without any prior notice.

Nalco bags top exporter’s award

Bhubaneswar:  National Aluminium Company Limited (Nalco) has been awarded a gold trophy by Engineering Export Promotion Council as the top exporter in large enterprise category.
Nalcohas also been lauded for its contribution to engineering export in 2005-2006.
P K Parida, executive director (marketing) of Nalco received the award from German Consul General in Kolkata, Guenter Wehrman, in a function held in Kolkata on Thursday.
According to Nalco authorities, the company has played a key role in the export of alumina and aluminium from India.
Nalco products are exported to more than 30 countries.
In 2005-06, the company exported 8,62 lakh tonnes of alumina and 95,747 tonnes of aluminium, earning foreign exchange of Rs 2307 crore that stood at Rs 2586 crore last year.
Nalco is the first Indian company to register with London Metal Exchange, having its own mines, alumina refinery, aluminium smelter and power plant.
 

KGI bags OTM

Bhubaneswar:The Koustuv Group of Institutions (KGI) on Friday clinched the Orissa Textile Mills deal at a liquidation price of Rs 43 crore on Friday.
The deal was made after the Orissa High Court Justice IM Kudusi opened the bids for the deal and ruled in favour of two bidders - KGI and Indian Charge Chrome Limited (ICCL).
While ICCL would purchase 62 acre OTM land at a cost of Rs 5 crore, KGI would buy the unit and 480 acre land.
Of the bidders, IDCO, an Orissa government enterprise, offered to buy the assets at Rs 30 crore while Koustuv Group offered Rs 43 crore to buy all the movable and immovable assets. While ICCL committed to give employment to 62 ex-employees of OTM, Koustuv Group offered to appoint 500 former workers in its up coming project on the purchased land in a phased manner.
Briefing newsmen after the deal, KGI chairman Prabhat Ranjan Mallick said that he would fulfill the dreams of Late Biju Patnaik by setting up of a multi-specialty hospital and a state-of-the-art medical college on the land at Choudwar and take all steps for uplift of women and empowerment of middle class youths of the state.