Jagdev -"the conqueror"

Rourkela: People’s representatives including Minister, MLA, government officials and ruling party leaders discussed development of railway and related issues at ADM office last evening. Presiding over the meeting, Minister of Commerce and Transport Subrat Tarai alleged that the railways authorities are apathetic towards development of railways in the region. He raised question on abrupt halting of pipeline works, which has created problems in water supply to residents of Gopabandhupali and Timber Colony. Tarai took up discussion on delay of Basanti fly-over bridge over railway level crossing, renovation work of Panposh railway tunnel, extension of Shed at Rourkela railway station’s platform No.- 1, cleanliness around station area and several other issues. Many BJD leaders said that though South Eastern Railway has been contributing hugely towards revenue from Rourkela, the authorities have turned a blind eye to the demands of people for various facilities in r

Rourkela: Amity Information Centre (AIC), one-stop-centre and the first ever in Odisha was inaugurated at Koel Nagar here today. Amity, one of India’s leading education groups, runs 5 universities, 13 B. Schools and 8 global campuses. Being the Chief Guest on the occasion, Rourkela MLA Sarada Prasad Nayak well praised the organizer in opening such type of leading education group in Rourkela. Speaking on the importance of technical colleges and their impact on students in Rourkela including National Institute of Technology (NIT), Biju Patnaik University of Technology (BPUT), IIPM Kansbahal and others, Nayak said that students of Rourkela are keen to pursue their studies globally and Amity will serve them best. Suman Bhatacharya, zonal manager, Amity Education Group, said Amity offers 250 programmes in India and abroad. The information centre will provide all information on courses offered, eligibility criteria, fee structure, bank loans, scholarships etc to see

Rourkela: In protest against the hike in power tariff, activists of the CPI (M) and Socialist Unity Centre of India (SUCI) today gheraoed the WESCO office. Notably, Odisha Electricity Regulatory Commission (OERC) approved the 10 paise/unit hike, which will be effective from April 1. The CPI (M) termed the power tariff hike as gift from the state government on the occasion of Utkal Diwas. Dubbing the hike as anti-people, the CPI (M) alleged that a large number of people in rural areas and urban areas will suffer a lot. They demanded immediate roll-out of the hike as approved by OERC. CPI (M) leader Bishnu Mohanty demanded that Odisha State Electricity Board (OSEB) should be reconstituted. The party charged the OERC with failure to serve the interests of the common people in the State. They said except the problem of power tariff hike, other factors like Power cut (minimum 3 hours a day), low voltage in rural areas, replacement of old transformer, absenc

Rourkela:  Chhend policemen have busted a sex racket here today. Four accused in the case have been arrested and forwarded to the Court. Acting on a tip off, Chhend policemen conducted raid in the house of Mukesh Gupta (29), the main accused, in the wee hours yesterday. Mukesh Gupta, a resident of Phase-II Qr.No.152 in Kalinga Vihar area in Chhend Colony who ran a travel agency, allegedly also ran a sex racket in his residence.  Police arrested Gupta and three others including a woman. The arrested men have been identified as Ambit Panda (44) and Amit Prasad (30), resident of LCR-134 and LCR-139 of Chhend area respectively. Police arrested all the four accused and have seized a four-wheeler from them in the case.

Rourkela: Joint Secretary (Steel), Government of India U P Singh, accompanied by his wife Archana Singh today arrived here in the Steel City on a three-day visit. Singh visited the Rourkela Steel Plant (RSP). On arrival at the airstrip here, G S Prasad, Chief Executive Officer (CEO), RSP, Manjari Prasad, President, Deepika Mahila Sanghati, S N Roy, ED (Works), Dipankar Basu, ED (P&A), R K Nehru, ED (MM), M K Das, ED (Projects), S K Acharya, ED (Projects), J Singh, DIG (CISF) and other senior officers of RSP and vice presidents of Deepika Mahila Sanghati, accorded a warm welcome to Singh and his wife. Singh, along with Prasad and other senior officers, visited various project sites of RSP including the New Raw Material Handling Plant, New Blast Furnace-5, New Caster, New Coke Ovens Battery-6 and the New Plate Mill. In each of these units Singh took a keen interest on the progress of the projects. A presentation was made on the performance of the Plant on var

Rourkela: All block level officers underwent an awareness training programme about strategies and suggestions to be adopted to reduce the Elector Population (E-P) ratio and achieve 100 per cent photo and Election Photo Identity Card (EPIC) coverage and correction in rolls during the forthcoming special summary revision of electoral rolls, which will start from April 8 and will continue till June 1. The meeting was held yesterday at ITDA conference hall here in which Panposh Sub-Collector Shyam Bhakt Mishra as the Electoral Registration Officer and Returning officer of three assembly constituencies- Rourkela, Raghunathpali and Biramitrapur- instructed all Block Level Officers (BLOs) to receive applications in form No.-6 from eligible un-enrolled voters in the age group of 18-19 years. He also emphasized on collection of form-6 from different colleges and technical institutes to enroll youth voters in the age group 18-19 by the nodal officers of concerned institutes.

Rourkela: In its continued bid to breathe life into dying art forms and promote cultural activities, Sampark, a socio cultural organization of Rourkela, is going to organize a national-level theatre festival ‘Natak Mahotsav-2013’ for the third time at Civic Centre here. The theatre festival will commence from March 27 on the occasion of World Theatre Day and will continue till March 31. Briefing newsmen here, Bhaskar Chandra Mohapatra, secretary, Sampark, said the national grade theatre festival is being organized in Rourkela since 2011. “To maintain the glory and keep alive the dying form of theatre in Rourkela as well in our State, this organization is organizing theatre festival every year. This year, eminent theatre personalities from Bhopal, Kolkata, Bhubaneswar and local groups will participate. As many as 115 artists will participate in the 5-day theatre festival. The programme will start from 6.30 pm evening”, Mohapatra added. He further said that to m

Rourkela: Even though more than two years have passed, construction of the road connecting Khutgaon with Kerketta under Nuagaon Block has remained incomplete, posing a lot of problems for the commuters in general and students in particular. Work on the 6.8-km stretch of the road project, which has been taken up under Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojna (PMGSY) is moving at snail’s pace. Sources said only 27 per cent of the work is complete. Construction of the road project began in 2010-11 at an estimated cost of Rs. 2.27 crore including the cost of five years maintenance and was to be completed within one year by the Rural Works Section, Rourkela under the direction of the State Government. The project was funded by the Union Ministry of Rural Development. This despite the fact that villagers have been facing hurdles without having a solid and smooth road and with increasing its unevenness; the problem has been getting worse with each passing year. Thou

Rourkela: The first day paper of the annual examination of primary schools scheduled on March 18 was postponed due to delayed arrival of question papers. This has caused resentment among parents of the around 2.5 lakh students in 2400 elementary schools under the Sarva Siksha Abhiyan (SSA) across Sundargarh district. This will delay the admission process for the current academic session. This act of district administration has given a full blown to the Right to Education of each student who has suffered their losses either by preparation or will by late in paper checking or delays in admission process for the current session. A teacher of Basanti Colony said that examination and evaluation of paper was to be completed by March end in order to start the new session for next year from April 1. But with the postponement of the first paper the process of evaluation will get delayed, he added saying that it will be a hell of task for teachers to work timelessly for paper e

Rourkela: In order to popularize the culture of unique customs and festivities of Lord Jagannath in Western parts of the state, Biswa Jagannath Chetana Sansad Jagannath Dham, Puri has started its 29th Sri Jagannath Chetana Mahadhibesan here today at Uditnagar Parade ground. The religious congregation will go on till March 28. Talking to PBD, Surya Narayan Rath Sharma, head acharya propagating Jagannath culture, informed that during the ongoing 11-day Adhibeshana, a set of daily rituals and customs including Atibishnu Mahayagyan comprising of 10.51 lakh ‘ aahuti ’ accompanied by slokas will be performed till the last day. This apart, Narayana Upasana, Maa Kanak Durga Upasana, Ananda Bazaar and Abhisekas as part of Lord Jagannath culture will also be performed. The most attractive feature of the Adhibeshana is exhibition of 32 ‘bhesas’ (attires) of Lord Jagannath, Lord Balabhadra and Devi Subhadra- Abakasa Besha, Sakala Dhupa Bhesa, Bada Shrungara Besha, Chandana Laggi

Rourkela: Congress workers today took out rallies and stages demonstrations in Rourkela as well as in the State in protest against the alleged police excesses on their workers during a demonstration in Cuttack on March 12 over Plus Two question paper leak. The youth and students’ wing of the Congress today lashed out at Higher Education Minister Badri Narayan Patra and Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik while staging a protest in front of the ADM office here over Plus Two question leak. Hundreds of party supporters chanting slogans protested against the March 12 police assault on Congress activists and demanded resignation of the Higher Education Minister for his alleged role in plus two exam question paper leak and the Chief Minister for his ineffective rule in the State. District Youth Congress President Sri Nayar demanded a judicial inquiry into the question paper leak and resignation of the Minister for allegedly ruining the future of lakhs of bright students.

Rourkela: The 105th Vedvyas Mela was kicked off at the Vedvyas temple on the outskirts of the steel city on Maha Shivratri here last evening. Briefing newsmen on the occasion, Rourkela ADM Rabindranath Mishra spoke on the importance of the Mela and venue saying that the district administration has made elaborate arrangements for the visitors. Besides lightning, health and sanitation measures, adequate police forces have been deployed to oversee law and order situation and traffic. Besides, fire tenders have been also deployed to tackle any fire mishap during the Mela. The Administration has also put up barricades along the rivers bank to restrict the devotees from taking bath, the ADM informed. Talking to PBD, member of Vedvyas Trust Board Badrinarayan Padhi said around 800 vendors from various parts of the country have put up their stalls at the Mela and 40 more for exhibiting excusive products are expected that attracts people from Western Odisha districts besides

Rourkela: In response to an all-India strike call given by the Bar Council of India and Odisha State Bar Council, the lawyers of Rourkela here boycotted the court proceedings today and condemned the recent police attack on lawyers in Jaipur and Chandigarh. The Rourkela Bar Association (RBA) staged a demonstration in front of the ADM office here. The move came after the Bar Council of India issued a notification to the Odisha State Bar Council as well as all bars and courts of the country to support for the cause. Besides 1200 lawyers of the Rourkela Court stayed out of their work and had participated in the protest. Advocate Ramesh Bal, president of RBA said, “As per the notification from the Bar Council of India, the legal community has participate in the agitation, albeit in a peaceful manner adding that, we strongly condemn the incident of Jaipur and Chandigarh”. Though the call for strike and protest came to notice from last Friday, it was observed first b

Rourkela: The first three claims under the Group Voluntary Personal Accident Insurance Scheme (GPAIS) were settled and G S Prasad, Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Rourkela Steel Plant (RSP), gave cheques amounting to a total of Rs. 32,143 to the claimants recently here. S N Roy, ED (Works), D Basu, ED (P&A), R K Nehru, ED (MM), M K Das, ED (Projects), S K Acharya, ED (Projects) and many other senior officers of the plant were present on the occasion. The three claimants who received the insurance amount are Sudhi Ranjan Sahoo, Assistant, Personnel Department, Rojalily Mallik, Office Attendant, Instrumentation and Paresh Chandra Behera, Master Technician, Power Distribution. They were granted claims of Rs. 8571, Rs. 7143 and Rs. 16,429 respectively. The scheme was made effective from December 1, 2012. Employees were given the option to become members of the scheme that aims at providing relief in case of death, permanent and total disability/ permanent parti

Rourkela: It is huge relief for Raw Material Division (RMD), a unit of Steel Authority of India Ltd. (SAIL), with Ministry of Environment and Forest (MoEF) granting the much-awaited forest clearance (FC) to two of its major iron ore mines at Kalta and Barsuan which without this clearance would have been closed from March 8. According to a senior official of RMD, as per the policy of government of India, no mines can operate even for a single day without forest clearance. The forest clearance for the first phase of two SAIL-owned mines of the district- Barsuan and Kalta iron ore mines- had expired about two years ago. They were in operation on Temporary Working Permit (TWP) for the last two years. The maximum limit of operation under TWP being two years, the SAIL management needed to obtain Stage II clearance for operation of these two mines. Although application was made by SAIL for obtaining forest clearance of the stage II operation of these two mines, the files cou

Rourkela: Launching another new initiative to promote sports in the region, Rourkela Steel Plant (RSP) is organizing ‘Samvardhan Rural Football Tournament’ at Jabapanposh village in Sundargarh since Friday. The tournament was inaugurated by Dipankar Basu, ED (P&A) at Jabapanposh Play Ground in the presence of P K Pradhan, GM (TA & CSR), M K Barman, GM (HRD) and B K Mohapatra, GM (CEO’s Secretariat) along with other officers of RSP. A total of 32 teams from nearby villages are taking part in this tournament, organised by the CSR Department of RSP in association with Pragati Yuva Niketan Club. The tournament has turned out to be a huge crowd puller with hundreds of spectators gathering in the ground to enjoy the matches. The final match will be played on March 13. The winning team will receive a cash award of Rs. 8,000 along with the Winner’s Cup while the runners-up team will get a cash award of Rs. 7,000 and the Runners-up Cup.

Rourkela: The ongoing road expansion work in the Steel City has escalated pollution by releasing clouds of dust into air. The problem has left the denizens choked for the past few months. This has given rise to health hazards. Contractors are carrying out road expansion work without taking up dust repressive steps like sprinkling of water. Growing number of vehicles and industrial units have added to the problem too. Tapas Parida, a resident of Uditnagar lamented that air is heavy with floating dust particles arising out of movement of vehicles on the half-constructed road. The residents find it difficult to breath in pure and fresh air, he added. Many people are suffering from respiratory problems and eye irritation. The problem is a common sight in most parts of the city particularly in the day time. Older people and small children are suffering from breathing problems, he added. The problem is more acute in Basanti Colony near over-bridge ending at

Rourkela: The Rashtrapati Bhavan today issued a notification regarding appointment of the five-time Nagaland chief minister and veteran Congress leader Senayangba Chubatoshi Jamir as new Governor of Odisha. He will replace incumbent Governor Murlidhar Chandrakant Bhandare, whose tenure has already completed since August 20 last year. The veteran Congress leader had earlier served as Governor of Maharashtra and Goa. He was also chief minister of Nagaland five times­­­­­­­­­­­- 1980, 1982-1986, 1993-1997, and 1997-2003. According to sources, Jamir has been informed about his appointment. His appointment as Governor of Odisha will be the third gubernatorial assignment.

Rourkela:   “Women are psychologically, sentimentally and emotionally stronger than men,” said G S Prasad, Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Rourkela Steel Plant (RSP) while addressing a grand function to celebrate the International Women’s Day organised at Gopabandhu Auditorium here yesterday. Prasad dwelt upon the status of women in Indian society down the ages and how courageous and intelligent women had changed the course of history. Expressing happiness over the significant progress of women in the 21st century, the RSP CEO exhorted women to believe in themselves. “Society should not treat women as victims and rather view them as fighters who can take any challenge headlong and overcome it,” he added. Acknowledging the role of women in the progress of RSP, the CEO wanted to see more women getting into the tougher jobs of the Plant. “One day, a lady will be heading the Rourkela Steel Plant,” he hoped. Speaking on the occasion, Paramita Satapathy, Commissioner, Inc