Following is an excerpt from a report in Telegraph.

With more than 1,050 species of finest and richest varieties of cacti and succulents grown in an area of 20,000sqft, the centre — established by the state government — has been evolving many new inter-generic and inter-specific hybrids adding new names to the existing list.

Continuing with the effort to popularise the collection, curation and propagation of cacti among the public, the centre would soon open a new cacti house.

The house is likely to be opened by the last week of this month, the centre’s chief executive officer, A.K Mahapatra said.

The centre already has a series of poly-houses covering an area of 20,000sqft. The new addition would house 500 t0 600 varieties of cacti, he added. Apart from collecting samples from different parts of the world, the centre has many indigenously developed varieties. Out of several varieties of cactus found across the world, Echinocactus grusonii, Gymnocalycium, Mammillaria, Melocactus, Ferocactus, Astrophytum, Sulcorebutia, Opuntia, Parodia and Hildwintera are prized possessions of the centre

Following is an excerpt from a news report in the Telegraph.

Painter Jatin Das’s dream of a museum for traditional and contemporary art in his native Orissa has gone international.

Das was in Washington and New York last week outlining his plans for the J.D. Centre of Art in Bhubaneswar to his American and Indian American fans.

At an interactive evening at the Indian embassy here, hosted by India’s deputy chief of mission Raminder Singh Jassal, with slides of his life’s work, Das said the proposed centre would be the first in India to display both traditional and contemporary art in 14 permanent galleries under one roof.

The Orissa government has allotted an acre of land to the painter, who was born in Mayurbhanj. B.V. Doshi, the famous architect from Ahmedabad and associate of Le Corbusier, has designed the master plan for the ambitious centre.

The painter said he had been dreaming of the project for almost a decade and expected that it would cost Rs 50 crore to make it a reality.

“I have been funding the centre, which has a board and a small staff of six people, with money from my paintings. They are temporarily working out of a house in Bhubaneswar given by the state government,” Das told this correspondent.

But he plans to make international requests for funding and hopes Indian Americans will join in the effort.

When the centre is ready, Das will donate his entire collection of 45 years, including paintings, books and antiquities, to the new venture to be housed in one place.

www.orissalinks.com/orissagrowth/wp-content/uploads/image/20080229a_001101010.jpg

There are two science museums in Orissa:

• Regional Science Center in Bhubaneswar.
• Dhenkanal Science Center
  

They are both part of the BITM (Kolkata) family.

Following is an excerpt from a New Indian Express report on this.

Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik today announced creation of a welfare fund that would cover 56,000 weavers of the State under health insurance scheme.

At a function organised on completion of 50 years of Boyanika, a State handloom weavers cooperative society here, the Chief Minister said a handloom and handicraft museum will be opened at Ekamra Haat.

The Government will provide Rs 40 crore during the 11th Plan period for development of handloom sector.

The package described below are:

• Photo IDS for weavers within the next two years.
• Annual training to improve productivity and skill for 2000 weavers.
•  Apparel design and training centers in Cuttack, Berhampur, Sambalpur, Rourkea and Baripada.
• Development of a fund for the welfare of weavers.
• A raw material bank for handloom materials.
• Integrated project in handloom in Nuapatana.
• Building of 1000 worksheds.
• A handloom museum in Bhubaneswar.

Regional Museum of Natural History (RMNH), Bhubaneswar ( See bottom part of page 4; National museum and other 2 regional museums) was established in 2004. This is the third regional museum of natural history in India, besides the national one in Delhi; the other two regional ones are in Mysore and Bhopal. Following is the special program of RMNH Bhubaneswar for celebrating its 3rd annual day.