Orissa government has asked the Centre to adopt a long term plan for Kandhamal, prone to ethno-communal violence instead of seeking any quick solution, official sources said on Tuesday.

Orissa’s suggestion came after the high-level central team headed by Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar, which visited Kandhamal today, sought to know what assistance was needed in mitigating the problems there.

"The Centre wants to support Orissa in building confidence among all sections of the people in Kandhamal," Pawar told reporters after the team arrived here yesterday.

Identifying backwardness in education, lack of connectivity and poor livelihood means as the cause behind the ethno-communal violence in Kandhamal, Orissa government asked the Centre to set up a campus of the National Tribal University, Amarkantak at Phulbani, the district headquarter town.

"As scheduled tribes constitute 52 per cent of Kandhamal’s population, it is proposed to have one Ekalavya model residential school (EMRS) in each block to cater to the needs of tribal children," a report sbubmitted to the central team by the state government said.

This apart, the state government also asked for at least six schedule caste hostels to cater the children of SCs who comprise 17 per cent of the total population in the district .

Stating that connectivity was the main obstacle for the administration proper deployment of security force, it said NH 217 which passed through Kandhamal need to be double laned.

S.G. - State Government

A.A.I - Airports Authority of India

SAIL - Steel Authority of India Ltd.

IMFA- Indian Metals & Ferro Alloys Ltd.

Oxford Bookstore opened its first outlet in Bhubaneswar here on Friday. Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik unveiled the bookstore located at Pal Heights.

He signed books penned by his sister Gita Mehta and interacted with the children. Naveen also said he would return to browse the books at the store soon.The premium bookstore chain’s first outlet in State Capital is located over 1500 sqft and would share space with Cha Bar which offers select brews from all significant tea growing regions of the world.Priti Paul, Director Apeejay Surrendra Group of which Oxford is a retail arm said the store will offer a vast range of books for all ages and interests including a large selection from Orissa and Oriya writers. An entire section will be dedicated to books connected to Orissa and the best in India as well as international publishing. Among others, Law Minister Biswabhusan Harichandan was also present.

The Pal Heights location is 500 mts north of the Jayadev Vihar - NH 5 crossing and 500 mts from many other hotels (Mayfair Lagoon, Swosti plaza and Ginger.)

The  Government has approved the take over of eight new forest areas under its flagship programme Project Tiger in the country. An allocation of Rs. 32.00 crores has been estimated for tiger conservation in new Tiger Reserve areas during the XIth Five Year Plan period. Udanti and Sita Nadi  Wildlife Sanctuary in Chattisgarh will be the largest among new reserves with 1580  sq.km. area.  Anamalai -Parambikulam Wildlife Sanctuaries covers area of 1410 sq km area spread over  two states, Tamilnadu and Kerala.

Annexure

DETAILS OF THE PROPOSED NEW TIGER RESERVES

*****

IMRS Hospitality Private Limited will spend approximately Rs 100 crore as a part of its expansion strategy to consolidate its position in the eastern region.

The company will set up five ’boutique hotels’ in the eastern region, with 40 rooms, offering facilities equivalent to a four star hotel.

Arindam Chokroborty, director of IMRS said, "We are looking at coming up with boutique hotels with 40 rooms in the eastern region with similar facilities that match the four star hotels. We have already started acquiring land in Rajarhat."

The projects have been lined up for West Bengal, Jharkhand and Orissa and the approximate investment incurred will be around Rs 20- Rs 25 crore each, and is expected to be operational by the second quarter of 2009-10.

A major initiative to support and mobilise Orissa’s filigree artisans is on the cards.

The initiative, involving both the central and the state governments, would be launched under the Union government’s circuit development scheme. The project would be linked with the tourism sector in the state as plans are afoot to set up a “Silver Filigree Centre” at Mundasahi on the banks of Mahanadi river near here under the aegis of the Orissa Tourism Development Corporation (OTDC).

Official sources said the project was conceived to identify the filigree potential in Cuttack and to ensure that artisans were not quitting their profession. An official survey had revealed that most of the silver filigree artisans wanted to sustain their skills provided it offers them benefit.

“The idea of setting up the Silver Filigree Centre at Mundasahi has been planned to link Tarkashi or silver filigree and tourism. The filigree centre will allow the tourists to go to a place showcasing the artisans’ work,” Cuttack collector Kishore Kumar Mohanty told The Telegraph.

“Funds to the tune of Rs 1 crore from the Union government under its Circuit Development Scheme will be used to make the project a reality,” the Cuttack collector said, adding that the district administration had demarcated a three acre plot for the project. “The allotment of the land for it is under process,” he said.

Sources in OTDC said the initiative to give a fillip to the Cuttack Tarkashi art form involves identification of traditional artisans, bringing them under one roof and setting up infrastructure for live demonstration of the intricate method involved in the silver filigree work with a product sale facility. The proposed centre also envisages food, recreational facility and amusement park for children.

I believe that for Orissa to develop several urban centers and clusters need to be developed. So far many are developing. The ones marked with red are either developed or are in the path of development. The one in purple (Keonjhar) has a good chance of development. The three green ones in the big green zone, denoting Bhwanipatna, Balangir and Phulbani are in need of development. The following table lists what these various urban areas and clusters have or are going to have and what they don’t have and the govt. should make efforts to fulfill those lacunae.

As noted above, all these places should have a university, a medical college, good rail connectivity and several job centers.

The construction work of the Rs 2460 crore Dhamara port, being developed by Dhamara Port Company Limited (DPCL), a joint venture of Tata Steel and L & T, is on track with more than one third of the work being completed.

The work is mostly concentrated around building railway connectivity, channel dredging, and berth construction.

DPCL, till date, has invested about Rs 900 crore in the project coming up in Bhadrakh district of Orissa. With the payments of balance dues for procurement of machineries due in the coming months, the investment figure is likely to increase substantially. “Work on all fronts starting from rail connectivity to Bulk Material Handling System (BMHS) is going on in full swing and more than a third of the construction work is over.

We hope to operationalise the first phase of the port by 2010”, Santosh Kumar Mohapatra, chief executive officer (CEO), DPCL told Business Standard. He said, the construction of rail connectivity from Bhadrakh to Dhamara is going on in full scale and the embankment construction is almost complete. Similarly, the construction of berths, cargo handling system, channel dredging is also going on. Meanwhile, the company has already placed orders for all the machineries.

"As India has been declared as diabetes capital of the world, a world class diabetes care facility is badly needed in the country," director of Cuttack Diabetes Research Foundation (CDRF), Dr Alok Kanungo, told reporters here.

Billed as the first of its kind in eastern India, the ultra modern Rs 15 crore Kanungo Institute of Diabetes Specialities (KIDS) would be inaugurated here by chief minister Naveen Patnaik on November 14, coinciding with the World Diabetes Day, he said.

World centres like Karolinska institute of Sweden which decides Nobel prize in medicine has joined hands with KIDS and CDRF to extend all technical support for advance research and training, said Kanungo.

"The institute will be equipped with latest equipment, trained manpower, fully computerised systems and everything which is required for diabetes management," he said adding it would be a boon for not only Orissa, home to over 30 lakh diabetics, but for entire eastern India.

Diabetics are 25 times more likely to turn blind, 17 times more prone to kidney ailment and three times more prone to heart disease, said Kanungo.

Kids would initially have a 100-bed hospital block, out patient block to handle 1000 patients per day for treatment, major and minor operation theatres, foot care, eyecare, kedney, cardiology, neurology, nutrition, physiotherapy and other departments.

BHUBANESWAR: In a bid to put pressure on the State Government for mines, Arcelor-Mittal, the largest steel maker of the world, Monday said the company will submit a detailed project report (DPR) for 12 million tonnes greenfield steel project in Keonjhar district only after it gets recommendation for prospecting licence.

‘We will submit the DPR if the Government recommends our name for mines,’ chief executive officer of the company’s greenfield projects Sanak Mishra told mediapersons after meeting Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik. Official sources, however, said the company is yet to fulfil the procedural prerequisites for getting mines for the steel project.

A two-member delgation of the company comprising Mishra and Vijay Nagar CEO (India) Vijay Bhatnagar was explained the procedure to be followed before requesting for mines.

… Bhatnagar said raising finance for new projects has become difficult in view of the meltdown. On land acquisition, he said it depends on the cooperation of the people. Gram Sabha (village committee meeting) has been completed in three out of 15 revenue villages. A meeting with the people of the remaining villages will be held soon.

Sources said the company is facing opposition from the villagers who want land price to be decided before convening the gram sabha. The price quoted by the affected villagers is reportedly not acceptable to the company.

As per the MoU, the company requires 7,750 acres of land for the project. About 1,400 acres of the proposed site are forest land which requires conversion. Construction work for the project will start as and when a substantial protion of land is acquired, Bhatnagar said.