Archive for the 'Samaja (in Odia)' Category

Odisha’s top three Odia papers (Dharitri, Samaja and Sambada) have free epaper editions

Dharitri (in Odia), Samaja (in Odia), Sambada (in Odia) Comments Off on Odisha’s top three Odia papers (Dharitri, Samaja and Sambada) have free epaper editions

Their websites are:

  • Dharitri (Usually updated around 3 PM California Time; 3:30 AM Indian Time)
  • Sambada (Seems to be updated in the PM California Time)
  • Samaja (Usually updated around 4 AM California Time; 4:30 PM Indian Time)

At present all three are free and one does not need to login to read them.  Dharitri and Samaja had epapers for some time now. Sambada is the latest one to join the club.

Mamta is ready for a second wagon factory in Kalahandi; Odisha must take immediate action

Ancilaries, Balangir, Berhampur- Gopalpur- Chhatrapur, Ganjam, Kalahandi, Railway Budget 2010, Railway Budget 2011, Samaja (in Odia), Wagon Factory 6 Comments »

Additional land for NIT Rourkela and operationalizing Rourkela airport discussed by the Chief Secretary: Samaja

High Court, Marquee Institutions: existing and upcoming, Medical, nursing and pharmacy colleges, Rourkela, Rourkela- Kansbahal, Samaja (in Odia), Sundergarh, Universities: existing and upcoming 2 Comments »

As per their 2010 placement brochure, NIT Rourkela has 675 acres and following some high court order would be expanding by adding another 400 acres. The following Samaja article talks about that expansion.

It is great that this discussion came up at the Chief Secretary level. With stability at that position for next several years pursuing a comprehensive development agenda for Rourkela with him could work well. Some of the issues that should be pursued with him include:

  • Medical Colleges (ESIC, SAIL)
  • University (a comprehensive metropolitan university with all branches)
  • A national level sports or physical education institute or university (upgrade existing sports academies)
  • Airport
  • Raiway issues (world class station, Division HQ, Talcher-Bimlagarh line; more trains)
  • Declaring greater Rourkela as a municipal corporation
  • Public transport inside Rourkela
  • Enticing IT/BPO industries to take advantage of the cosmopolitan demography to set shop there; Development of IT parks.
  • Encouraging various companies in RKL to further contribute with respect to HRD (SAIL medical and Engineering College, etc.)

Please suggest more.


We discussed this earlier in greater length at http://www.orissalinks.com/archives/3480. See also http://www.orissa2020.org/home/area-wise-plan.

Jharsuguda to be the country’s largest power producer city: Samaja

Coal, Engineering and MCA Colleges, Jharsugurha, Jharsugurha- Brajarajnagar- Belpahar, Samaja (in Odia), Thermal, Universities: existing and upcoming 2 Comments »

I don’t know if being the largest power producer city is something good by itself. In general heavy industrialization is happening in Jharsuguda, and a full-fledged airport is coming up there.
However, matching HRD institutions and other amenities are not being made there. There are universities (Sambalpur U and VSSUT) and a medical college in Burla which is about 50 kms away, but none (except the private engineering college, Black Diamond) in Jharsuguda or its adjacent industrial townships of Belphar and Barajarajnagar. This needs to be corrected. Following are some quick thoughts.

  • Branches of Sambalpur U and VSSUT should be established there.
  • Jharsuguda Engineering School should be upgraded to an engineering college.
  • One of the local companies, especially the ones mining in Ib, should be pushed to establish a medical college there.

Nine industrial proposals get single window clearance: Samaja

Aluminium, Anil Agarwal, Berhampur- Gopalpur- Chhatrapur, Dhenkanal, Ferro-chrome, Ganjam, Industrial Parks, Jagatsinghpur, Jajpur, Jajpur Rd- Vyasanagar- Duburi- Kalinganagar, Jharsugurha, Kalahandi, Kendrapada, MSE - medium and small enterprises, Paradip - Jatadhari - Kujanga, Rayagada, Rayagada- Therubali, Samaja (in Odia), Single Window Clearance (SLSWCA), Sonepur, Steel ancilaries, Sugar, Thermal Comments Off on Nine industrial proposals get single window clearance: Samaja

Cuttack city Helpline: Phone number of various agencies

Bhubaneswar- Cuttack- Puri, BSNL Odisha Circle, CONSUMER & RTI LINKS, Cuttack, Samaja (in Odia) Comments Off on Cuttack city Helpline: Phone number of various agencies

Following is from Samaja.

Steps towards electronic land registration in Odisha: Samaja

E-governance, Odisha govt. action, Samaja (in Odia) 1 Comment »

Orissa needs to better spent its NREGS and Indira Awas allocation

Central govt. schemes, Central grants, Central programs, IAY, NREGS, Odisha issues in the Parliament, Odisha MPs, Planning Commission and Odisha, Samaja (in Odia) Comments Off on Orissa needs to better spent its NREGS and Indira Awas allocation

Following is from Samaja. Its unacceptable that Orissa only spent 650 crores out of the allocated 1100 crores for NREGS during 2008-2009. The unspent money could have built half of Khurda-Balangir line. The Orissa government needs to do a better job at spending this money.

Samaja reports that an RTI response allegedly shows that Essel Mining has mined much more than it was granted permission and in the process has looted Rs 2550 crores

Alleged rogues, Birlas, Essel Mining, Iron Ore, Odisha RTI, Samaja (in Odia) Comments Off on Samaja reports that an RTI response allegedly shows that Essel Mining has mined much more than it was granted permission and in the process has looted Rs 2550 crores

Essel Mining is an Aditya Birla group company. Such allegation, if true, by a Birla group company is really unfortunate. No wonder many people in Orissa mistrust industrialists. If the above allegations are true, the Orissa government should cancel the mining lease of Essel Mining and sue it to get the money Orissa lost.

Milestones in Orissa history, 1800-2000: Samaja

Odisha history, Samaja (in Odia) Comments Off on Milestones in Orissa history, 1800-2000: Samaja

Utkalmani Gopabandhu’s Satyabadi magazine, the precursor of Samaja

Odia literature, Odisha Culture, Odisha history, Samaja (in Odia) Comments Off on Utkalmani Gopabandhu’s Satyabadi magazine, the precursor of Samaja

Talcher FCI revival; a good first step for Srikant Jena but he needs to get the Paradeep PCPIR approved and establish a NIPER in Orissa

Angul, Anugul- Talcher - Saranga- Nalconagar, Central ministers from Odisha, Chemicals, Daily Pioneer, Fertilizers, Jagatsinghpur, Odisha and Center, Paradip - Jatadhari - Kujanga, Samaja (in Odia) 5 Comments »

Following is from Samaja:

Following is from a report in Economic Times:

Union minister of state for chemicals and fertilizer, Srikant Jena on Sunday said the fertilizer plant at Talcher, 126 km from here would be revived with an investment

of Rs 12,000 crore. It provided direct and indirect employment to 30000 people in the area.

“The government will appoint consultants to suggest the modalities to raise finance, identify appropriate technology to revive the closed fertiliser unit at Talcher”, Mr Jena told ET.

The union government already had decided to revive Talcher plant. In fact, last October the Cabinet had set up an Empowered Committee of Secretaries under the chairmanship of Fertiliser Secretary Atul Chaturvedi to come up with possible financial models for the revival of the closed plants at Talcher, Barauni, Haldia, Ramagundam, Durgapur, Gorakhpur, Korba and Sindri.

The Talcher plant had liabilities of over Rs 4000 crore and assets worth of Rs 225 crore. “The liabilities comprise of mostly loans from the government of India and interest on loans. This can be waived once all the modalities of revival are worked out. We propose to expand its capacity to 12 million ton per annum [TPA].

Commercial production of Ammonia and Urea at the Talcher unit commenced in November 1980. Urea and Ammonia plants have been designed with a capacity to produce 4.95 lakh and 2.97 lakh tpa respectively.

However production of Urea and Ammonia was first suspended from April 1, 1999 due to its economic non-viability. In 2002, it came to grinding halt after the NDA government decided to close the unit following BIFR sanction.

Last year, the union government decided to renew Talcher unit and consulted with the companies like the Rashtriya Chemicals and Fertilisers and National Fertilisers. It even decided to put in an investment of Rs 5,000 crore in the project in view of the ambitious target of production of 40 million tpa of urea by 2012.

… RCF is the only profit making public sector fertilizer company which has evinced interest to take over Talcher and Durgapur (West Bengal) Fertilizer plant for revival. In fact, the feasibility report on Talcher had already been submitted to RCF.

The revival plan included proposal to convert Talcher plant from a coal based urea plant to a gas-based urea unit with capacity to produce 2000 ton of ammonia per day. There is no problem of water in Talcher, non-availabilty of gas remains the biggest hurdle in the way of reviving the plant. There is no source of gas nearby.

The proposed gas pipe line to be laid by Reliance Industries carrying gas from Krishna-Godavari basin to West Bengal via Bhadrak in Orissa could be the solution, sources said. However, the ministry will take a final view after the consultants submit detailed report on the financial model and technological options available for the revival of the Talcher unit.

Following is from a report in Pioneer:

Union Minister of State for Chemicals and Fertilisers Srikant Jena has to push a few major projects for Orissa, feel industry watchers. One of the largest projects waiting for clearance is the Petroleum, Chemical and Petrochemical Investment Region (PCPIR) project at Paradip.

The State Government has proposed a PCPIR expecting an investment of Rs 2.75 lakh crore.

While PCPIRs have been approved for Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal, the fate of Orissa’s proposal for it is still hanging. The PCPIR policy, notified in April 2007, seeks to ensure adoption of a holistic approach to the development of global scale industrial clusters in the petroleum, chemical and petrochemical sectors in an integrated and environment-friendly manner.

The Government of Orissa has taken the Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL) as the anchor investor. The IOCL is investing nearly Rs 30,000 crore for a greenfield refinery project at Paradip. The PCPIR proposal is, however, gathering dust in the files of the Ministry. So, it is high time Jena pushed the project to the Union Cabinet for approval by convincing the Cabinet-rank Minister MK Ajhagiri.

With this single clearance, Paradip will be in a position to attract huge investments in the petroleum, petrochemicals, fertilisers and other related areas. Similarly, Jena can push for the establishment of a NIPER (National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research) in Orissa.

Ten different power plants are being established in Dhenkanal district: Samaja worries about the impact on the environment

Dhenkanal, Samaja (in Odia), Thermal Comments Off on Ten different power plants are being established in Dhenkanal district: Samaja worries about the impact on the environment

Status of Tata Steel in Kalinganagar: Samaja

Jajpur, Jajpur Rd- Vyasanagar- Duburi- Kalinganagar, Samaja (in Odia), Steel, Tatas Comments Off on Status of Tata Steel in Kalinganagar: Samaja

State to propose for an army base in one of the backward and maoist affected districts: Samaja

Defence establishments, KBK Plus district cluster, Malkangiri, Samaja (in Odia) Comments Off on State to propose for an army base in one of the backward and maoist affected districts: Samaja

Orissa getting no tax from Bhushan Steel operations In Kantabania, Dhenkanal: Samaja

Bhushan Steel Ltd., Dhenkanal, Samaja (in Odia), Steel, Taxes Comments Off on Orissa getting no tax from Bhushan Steel operations In Kantabania, Dhenkanal: Samaja

There are at least two Bhushan companies. This article is about Bhushan steel Ltd.The other company is Bhushan Power and Steel.

Sambada and Samaja are top news papers in Orissa

Samaja (in Odia), Sambada (in Odia), THINGS ODISHA N ODIA 2 Comments »
Top Dailies: Indian Readership Survey 2008 — Round 2
Newspaper Language 2007 R2 2008 R2
The Times Of India Eng 134.8 133.4
Hindustan Times Eng 60.9 63.5
The Hindu Eng 52.5 52.8
The Telegraph Eng 30 29
Deccan Chronicle Eng 30 28
Dainik Jagran Hin 536.1 557.4
Dainik Bhaskar Hin 305.8 338.3
Amar Ujala Hin 282.2 293.8
Hindustan Hin 235.3 266.3
Rajasthan Patrika Hin 131.9 140.0
Asomiya Pratidin Ass 65.9 60.2
Dainik Agradoot Ass 39.8 32.8
Ananda Bazar Patrika Ben 157.5 153.9
Bartaman Ben 87.6 84.0
Gujarat Samachar Guj 84.7 87.4
Sandesh Guj 63.6 65.3
Vijay Karnataka Kan 99.4 92.2
Prajavani Kan 66.4 58.3
Malayala Manorama Mal 129.1 121.8
Mathrubhumi Mal 105.0 97.1
Lokmat Mar 206.6 199.3
Daily Sakal Mar 125.6 116.3
Sambad Ori 51.5 60.6
Samaj Ori 46.4 53.1
Ajit Pun 31.2 30.5
Jag Bani Pun 29.6 29.3
Daily Thanthi Tam 208.8 205.8
Dinakaran Tam 160.8 168.3
Eenadu Tel 142.2 144.1
Andhra Jyothi Tel 56.8 68.1
Inquilab Urd 8.3 8.1
Urdu Times Urd 6.2 4.6
(All figures are in lakhs)

The Oriya papers Sambada and Samaja have presence in the Internet. Samaja has a web-site with limited news and an e-paper site with the full paper. Sambada only has a web-site with limited news.

Arcelor-Mittal aims for a captive port in Barunei Muhana, Kendrapada: Samaja

Arcelor Mittal, Barunei, Kendrapada (many interested), Kendrapada, Samaja (in Odia) Comments Off on Arcelor-Mittal aims for a captive port in Barunei Muhana, Kendrapada: Samaja

Update: See also http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/arcelor-mittal-plans-captive-port-in-orissa/354536/.

Indian Railways exploitation of backward and tribal areas of Orissa: confronting Railway Board Chair with the facts in Toronto

Balasore - Niligiri (defunct?), Baripada - Bangiriposi (under constr.), EXPOSING ANTI-ODISHA-GROWTH SCHEMES, FINANCE & BANKING, Gajapati, Ganjam, Interstate disputes on Water and rivers, Jaroli - Deojhar .. Chaibasa, Kandhamala, KBK Plus district cluster, Keonjhar, Koraput - Rayagada, Mayurbhanj, Nayagarha, Odisha Consumer Welfare Foundation, Paradip - Jatadhari - Kujanga, Railway maps, Rajathagara - Nergundi, Rayagada, Samaja (in Odia), Sambalpur, Sonepur, Sundergarh, Talcher - Barang, Titlagarh - Jharsugurha Jn, Tomka - Jaroli, Uncategorized 3 Comments »

Following is the news report on the discussion (almost a confrontation) with the Railway Board Chair, as reported in India Abroad. The basic premise behind our grievances against Indian Railways and our demands is simple.

  • Indian railways is scheduled to make 2500-3000 crores/year from Orissa, but spends only 1000 crores/year on Orissa in terms of new lines, doubling and gauge conversion.
  • Its current plan for major spending includes freight corridors, metro rails, and high speed rails, none of which touch Orissa. It plans to do gauge conversion of 12000 kms, most of which is unprofitable (this proves that Indian Railway lies when it says it only does profitable lines), very little (less than 100 km) of which is in Orissa.
  • Orissa is already behind the national average in terms of rail density and way behind its neighbors such as West Bengal and Bihar. If no changes are made to the 11th plan IR allocations Orissa will further fall behind.
  • Indian Railways must not take money from its profit in Orissa, and spend it else where, until it takes care of proper connectivity to Orissa’s tribal, backward and maoist infested areas. The 2500-3000 times 5 = 12,500 -15,000 crore that Indian Railways will profit from Orissa during the 11th plan must be spend in new lines in Orissa until the (i)-(v) lines below and other port and mine connectivity lines are completed during the 11th plan.
  • To Mr. Jena’s retort that Mumbai earns so much in taxes and not all of it is spent in Mumbai; we reply that it is often acceptable to take from rich and give to poor; But when did it become acceptable to take from poor (Orissa) and give to rich (freight corridors etc. in other states)?

The lines in Orissa connecting to the tribal and backward areas that we demand to be finished during the 11th plan are:

  • (i) Khurda Rd – Nayagarh – Balangir: Lack of connectivity was one of the reasons a recent Maoist mayhem happened in Nayagarh. It seems after recent events, including the confrontation with the Railway Board Chair and various dharanas in Bhubaneswar, IR has started responding to this demand, but not to the extent to promise its completion during the 11th plan. Note that Balangir is the B in the KBK districts that are the most backward in India.
  • (ii) Lanjigarh Rd – Junagarh – Nabarangpur – Jeypore – Malkangiri – Bhadrachalam Rd in Andhra Pradesh: Only small part of this is approved. Most of it is not even surveyed. In the long run this will really bring those parts of Orissa closer to the rest of Orissa. This is the most important connection and has to be take care of at the earliest. Like the approved Vijaywada-Ranchi highway, this line will create an alternative Hyderabad – Ranchi path passing through backward and tribal areas of Andhra Pradesh, Orissa and Jharkhand. This line will connect the Kalahandi and Koraput districts, the two K’s in KBK. The recent Maoist attack and killing of the Greyhound forces in Malkangiri might have been prevented if this line existed as then the forces would have used the train rather than being seating ducks taking a boat across a lake in Malkangiri.
  • (iii a) Rayagada – Gopalpur: This has been surveyed and but work on it has not started. Note that Rayagada is part of the undivided Koraput district, one of the K’s of KBK. This line could come under port connectivity and will be a viable line connecting the industries near Rayagada with the upcoming port in Gopalpur.
  • (iii b) Gunupur – Theruvali: This will add to the Naupada-Gunupur line and make it an economically viable line. (IR and Mr. Jena agree about its importance.) This line will be completely inside the Raygada district, part of the undivided Koraput district, one of the K’s of KBK.
  • (iv) Talcher – Bimlagarh (connectivity to the tribal district of Sundergarh): This line has been approved but is only being given a few crores each year, which is less than the inflation. This line will reduce the distance between Sundergarh district and teh coastal areas significantly. For example, it will make Rourkela only 4-5 hrs from Bhubaneswar.
  • (v) Baripada/Buramara – Chakulia: This line will connect the tribal district of Mayurbhanj to tribal areas of Jharkhand. It will add to the Rupsa-Baripada-Bangiriposi line and make it an economically viable line. (IR and Mr. Jena agree about its importance.)

All these lines can be completed if Indian railways just suspends its practice of taking from poor (Orissa) and giving to the rich for only a few years (may be just 3-4 years). The following maps show the above mentioned lines.

CM writes to PM for Ad Valorem rates on minerals: Samaja

Ad Valorem, Chief Minister's actions, Mine royalty and cess, MINES and MINERALS, Samaja (in Odia) Comments Off on CM writes to PM for Ad Valorem rates on minerals: Samaja

Proposal for a 350 crore food park: Samaja

Food processing, Samaja (in Odia) Comments Off on Proposal for a 350 crore food park: Samaja

See also http://tathya.in/story.asp?sno=1800.

Odagaon (Nayagarh district) Raghunathji temple and festivals: Samaja

Festivals, Nayagarha, Samaja (in Odia), Temples Comments Off on Odagaon (Nayagarh district) Raghunathji temple and festivals: Samaja

Lemontree hotel to open in Bhubaneswar: Samaja

Bhubaneswar- Cuttack- Puri, Hotels and resorts, Khordha, Samaja (in Odia) 1 Comment »