___________

Following is an excerpt from a report in New Indian Express.

In all, there are 14 aquariums spread over 0.8 acre. Among them four house marine species and the rest freshwater species equipped with titanium chiller.

All the aquariums are equipped with `insitu’ filtration and recycling mechanism. In fact, two large size aquariums measure 3.5 meters in length and 0.9 meter in width. Attractions include well-researched education materials on aquaria, said zoo director Ajit Patnaik, adding, the materials are displayed on trans-slides boards.

One of the key objectives of the endeavour is to educate visitors about the rising pollution and the resultant impact on the aquatic life. About Rs 10 lakh alone has been invested on education materials.

There is also a special section which depicts the uniqueness of the marine ecosystem of the State. One of the freshwater aquariums represents fish fauna of the adjoining Kanjia lake.

The `moated’ enclosure has been developed over an area of five acres to provide a near-natural ambience to the elephants. The enclosure encompasses components like natural vegetation, water hole and adequate space for the movement of the animals.

The enclosure would stimulate their natural behaviour. Further, they will provide adequate opportunity to the visitors to watch the elephants literally in wild, Patnaik said. An elevation point has been put up to ensure better viewing.

Update: Also reported in http://www.expresshealthcaremgmt.com/200803/market17.shtml.

Following is an excerpt from a report in Moneycontrol.com.

… Asian Heart Institute, India’s most trusted leading Cardiac Care Hospital announced the plans of opening its latest multi specialty hospital in Chandrasekharpur, Orissa. Spread on an area of 1,50,000 square feet, a 300 bed hospital is being built with an investment of Rs 150 crores.

The foundation stone of Asian Hospital and Research Centre (AHRC) has been laid and the hospital will start functioning from 2010. The hospital will provide treatment to various medical specialties such as Cardiology, Cardio Thoracic Surgery, Orthopedic, Urology, Endocrinology, Dental, Dermatology, Diabetology, Gastroenterology, ENT, Geriatrics, Hematology, ,Neonatology, Nephrology ,Neurology, Obstetrics, Gynecology ,Ophthalmology, Urology, Paediatrics, Physiotherapy, Cosmetic surgery, Orthopaedic surgery, Respiratory medicine, Rheumatology , Thoracic surgery, and several others.

… The hospital will offer round-the-clock emergency services to the patients. It will have 12 ultra modern operations theatres, 100 intensive care units, fully equipped modernized Pathology Services, Radiology, Imaging Services, Blood Bank, 24hrs Pharmacy Services and Cardiac Ambulance Services with Mobile Cathlab.

Following is based on a report in Pioneer.

• Secretary, Health Chinmay Basu was transferred and appointed as Secretary, Industries
• Secretary, Steel and Mines UP Singh was transferred and appointed as Secretary, Agriculture.
• Industry Secretary Ashok Dalwai was transferred and appointed as Secretary, Steel and Mines.
• Agriculture Secretary Gagan Dhal was appointed as Special Secretary, Planning and Coordination.
• Revenue Divisional Commissioner (RDC)-Central zone Suresh Chandra Mohapatra was transferred and appointed as Secretary, Energy. However, he would remain in -charge of the Chief Administrator, Shri Jagannath Temple Administration.
• SN Sarangi, Director, DTET (Director Technical Education and Training) will join as RDC, Central Zone.
• Additional Secretary, Energy Srikanata Pakiray was appointed as Director, DTET.
• Development Commissioner RN Bohidar will remain in the additional charge of the Secretary, Health till further order is issued.
• Secretary, Planning and Coordination Parag Gupta was appointed as Secretary, Tourism. He will continue to function as secretary to the Governor.

Exchange4media reports that Radio Choklate is on air in Rourkela. Following is an excerpt from that report.

Radio Choklate, the radio initiative of Oriya daily ‘Sambad’ from Eastern Media Pvt Ltd, has gone on air in Rourkela recently. Monica Nayyar Patnaik, Director, Eastern Media Ltd, said, “We are quite well-known in Orissa, and we feel really proud to enter new markets here with our FM channel. Our objective is to make more cities of this state listen to Odisha’s Apna No. 1.”

The following is from http://orissa.gov.in/ekamra/utsav.html.

Bhubaneswar, the capital of modern Orissa, is a happy combination of old world charms and new world comforts. The scriptures refer to the ancient Bhubaneswar as the Ekamra Kshetra, literally meaning ‘mango orchards’ which remind us the union of Lord Shiva with Goddess Parvati. The blending of modernity with tradition here is impeccable. While the ancient city is 2600 years old, the modern city came into existence in 1948 as the new capital of Orissa, designed by the German Architect O.H. Koeingsberges. It is said that there were about seven thousand temples here, which earned it the coveted title of the ‘Temple City of India’. Even today from the hundreds of temples that still stand majestically as mute witness of a glorious past, one can study the chronological development of temple architecture from the beginning in the 7th Century AD to its culmination in the 13th Century AD. It is a centre of art and craft, manifest in the dazzling array of products like stone sculptures, pata paintings, palm-leaf etching, silver filigree, papier mache, etc. which is a shoppers’ delight. The classical Odissi Dance and Music have a solid foundation here fondly nourished by illustrious Gurus. The city has also distinguished itself as an important IT Centre and Software Technology Park as well as an ideal Venue for Conference and Conventions to do business with pleasure.

Around Bhubaneswar lies Dhauli in the South which witnessed the great battle of Kalinga in 261 BC after which Emperor Ashok embraced Buddhism and spread the message of peace to the world. Closeby are the remains of Sisupalgarh believed to be the earlier capital of Kalinga. On the west are the twin hills of Khandagiri-Udayagiri honeycombed with rock-cut caves built for the Jain ascetics during the illustrious emperor Kharavela in the 2nd century BC.

Bhubaneswar has, however, been mostly popular as the city of temples among the tourists. But the cultural efflorescence of the city goes beyond the temples. To familiarize the tourists with the larger canvas of the place covering Art & Crafts, Dance & Music, Handicrafts & Handlooms, etc., a Mega Festival titled Ekamra- The Temple City festival has been conceived. This 14-day event will also feature a Food Festival and a Mini Marathon will add spice to this year’s Utsav. The festival of promises to be an experience of a lifetime.

The highlights, as listed in http://orissa.gov.in/ekamra/highlights.html, are:

Additional Details:

Toshali National Crafts Mela

The Toshali National Crafts Mela has been setup in a rural ambience and is having over 150 National & State award winning handicraft and handloom artisans from all over India. Rural Tourism, Live Demonstration and Workshops will feature the main theme of the Mela.

Cuisines, representing the flavours of India combined with a strong component of day performance and evening cultural programmes have become a major draw in the Mela. The highlight of the cultural evenings will be the scintillating programmes to be presented by exponents of Indian Classical and Folk Dance & Music, Gahzal, etc.

Mini Marathon

Orissa Mining Corporation ltd. is going to organise the 2nd Mini Marathon in Bhubaneswar on 17th February 2008 on the occasion of Ekamra – The Temple City Festival. The Marathon shall be flagged off from Kalinga Stadium by Hon’ble Chief Minister, Orissa and it shall traverse through the important inter sections of Bhubaneswar City covering about 15 km and shall terminate in Kalinga Stadium. The Marathon, besides being a run for fun, aims at propagating the message Run for a Green Orissa. The registration of participation shall be enrolled from 12th to 15th February 2008 in the Office of PRO, OMC Head Office, Bhubaneswar from 3.00 PM to 5.00 PM and on 16th February registration will be made at Kalinga Stadium from 11.00 AM to 5.00 PM.

Mukteswar Dance Festival

The small and elegant Mukteswar Temple with its famous stone arch at the entrance is the gem of Orissan Architecture. The temple is also important as a transition point between the early and later phases of Kalinga School of Architecture for which this dance festival is named after the said temple. The sprawling green lawn in between Mukteswar-Parsurameswar Temple Complexes will host the event.

Kalinga Mahotsav

When people celebrate their heritage and ways of life, the spirit of revelry crosses languages, continents and cultures. And the Kalinga Mahotsav at Dhauli, a festival of Martial Dances, is celebrated very much in that spirit.

For the people of Orissa Dhauli hill at the outskirts of Bhubaneswar is more a living experience than a memory. Twenty three hundred years ago, their fore-fathers fought one of the fiercest battles in human history against Emperor Ashok. They suffered loss of a hundred thousand men, lost the war, but gained immortality, because they metamorphosed a warring monarch into an apostle of non-violence and peace. The festival is a fitting tribute to the victory of Peace over War where renowned dancers of India perform harmonising the vigour of martial art with sublime dance forms.

The calm and solemn statue of Buddha overlooking the entire stage from the top of the stupa and the tranquil expanse of the countryside populated by paddy fields and cashew plantations provides the peaceful background to the outburst of movements and sounds which accompany the performance of the martial artists. The aim of the organisers is to harmonise the vigour of martial tradition with the sublimity of peace through the art of dance.

Rajarani Music Festival

Celestial music, sublime surroundings and soothing climes of late winter—soul traverses to an elevated sphere leaving you utterly relaxed. Holidays are made with this kind of experience that creates a lasting mark in your mind.

Rajarani Music Festival held against the backdrop of the 11th century Rajarani Temple in Bhubaneswar is such an evening of concerts: it’s relaxing, entertaining and uplifting. The city has a large assemblage of celebrated temples of which the Rajarani Temple is one of the most conspicuous. It’s remarkable for the absence any presiding deity in it. The temple is famous for its ornate deul or compass and the statues of eight Dikpals guarding the eight cardinal directions of the temple.

To show case the glorious tradition of Indian classical music, the Rajarani Music Festival was conceived to be organized by the Department of Tourism in association with Bhubaneswar Music Circle.

The musical evenings are resplendent with excellent performances by the great maestros of Indian classical music creating an allegory of darbari gayans (musical performances in an Indian king’s court) of age old histories.

Eminent instrumentalists and vocalists of India have rendered scintillating performance in this festival over the years.

Following is culled from various sources, including Samaja and Pioneer. The 11 projects that have been cleared or partially cleared are:

1. National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) Ltd’s proposed power plant in Sundargarh. An investment of Rs 18,000 crore has been made for the project which will produce 3,200 megawatt of power.
2. Proposed Air Separation unit factory by British Oxygen which will come up at Kalinga Nagar in Jajpur district. It will produce 1800 tons of oxygen daily. It will need 15 acres of land and will invest 838 crores.
3. Jindal Stainless Ltd’s Rs 4,090 crore proposed power plant. The project will come up at Gajamara in Dhenkanal. The power plant will produce 1,000 megawatt.
4. Aarti Steel’s Rs 2,065 crore power plant at Ghantakhal in Athagarha
5. Salivahan Green Energy Ltd’s power project at Nimidha in Dhenkanal
6. Hind Metal and Industries Pvt Ltd (HMIL) Rs 237.10 crore plant at Meramunduli in Dhenkanal
7. Kalinga Energy and Power Ltd’s Rs 4261.27 crore project at Babuchakuli in Sambalpur
8. JSW Energy Ltd’s Rs9189.7 crore project at Chiplima in Sambalpur
9. Chambal Infrastructures and Ventures Ltd’s Rs 4993.98 crore project at Siaria in Dhenkanal
10. Ind Barath Energy Ltd (IBEL)’s Rs1007.69 crore power plant at Banaharpali in Jharsuguda.
11. Expansion of Balasore alloys.

Following is an excerpt from a column by S. Aiyar in Times of India.

Roads are not, of course, the only things that matter – other rural projects and policies matter a great deal too. But connectivity enhances the value of every other rural investment, since it empowers people through improved mobility and access. People can more easily buy agricultural inputs and sell their produce. Children can go more easily to schools, cattle can more easily get veterinary help, and the sick can get to health centres. Remote areas have, by definition, the worst connectivity. They are among the poorest and slowest-growing, but accelerate when given connectivity.

Roads can incubate a thousand small businesses, and can convert villages into towns. Government staff are much more willing to be posted to places with good connectivity, so roads improve administration. Rural productivity cannot be high without roads, but can be very high with them.

… Gulati says that studies by IFPRI (International Food Policy Research Institute) in China, Vietnam and some African countries point to the same conclusion – rural roads do more for growth and poverty mitigation than virtually anything else.

A recent IFPRI paper by Fan, Gulati and Thorat estimated the impact of different government programmes on rural growth and poverty reduction in recent decades. The poverty-reduction data for the 1990s are given in the accompanying table. Road investment gave the biggest bang for buck, followed by agricultural R&D, with education lagging some way behind. Subsidies on fertiliser, credit and power achieved rather little.

For every million rupees spent, roads raised 335 people above the poverty line, and R&D 323. Every million rupees spent on education reduced poverty by 109 people, and on irrigation by 67 people. The lowest returns came from subsidies that are the most popular with politicians – subsidies on credit (42 people), power (27 people) and fertilisers (24 people).

Exactly the same picture emerged when the researchers estimated the agricultural growth impact of these factors. Roads and agricultural R&D contributed by far the most to growth. Lower down came investment in education and irrigation. At the bottom came subsidies for credit, power and fertilisers.

… For decades, rural roads in India were neglected by most states. Besides, rural employment schemes, starting with Maharashtra’s Employment Gurantee Scheme in the 1970s, created the illusion that durable rural roads could be built with labour-intensive techniques. In practice labour-intensive roads proved not durable at all, and those built in the dry season vanished in the monsoons.

This finally changed with the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) launched in 2000. This, for the first time, ordained mechanised techniques to provide high-quality, all-weather roads to 1.6 lakh rural habitations without pucca roads. It also upgraded roads that had collapsed. Panchayats were made responsible for maintenance. Conversations with experts suggest that this is one of the best-functioning programmes in rural development.

… Let me conclude by recalling what economist Robert Chambers said back in the 1970s. "If I had money, I would use it to build roads. If I had more money, I would build more roads. If I had still more money, I would build still more roads."

Following is from http://rc.orissa.gov.in/writereaddata/sublinkimages/167.doc.

PRESS RELEASE

January 30, 2008

Reg:   Submission of Memorandum by the House Committee of OLA to the Hon’ble Minister of Railways on 30.01.2008.

        The members of House Committee on Railways under the Chairmanship of Hon’ble Speaker, Orissa Legislative Assembly, accompanied by the Members of Parliament submitted a Memorandum to the Hon’ble Union Minister of Railways in his office chamber. In the said meeting, Chairman, Railway Board and other high officials of Ministry of Railways were present.

          Orissa is on the threshold of major industrial upsurge and first progressing towards rapid industrialization. The large number of MoUs have been signed with several companies for setting up Steel Plants. Similarly, MoUs have been signed for setting up Alumina Plants and Super Thermal Power Houses. Several ports are also coming up along the Orissa coast. It is expected that additional generation of traffic will be staggering 200 to 250 MTPA by 2016.

          In the background of such massive transportation requirement, the rail infrastructure require urgent strengthening and expansion.

           Hence, the committee has given a proposal for enhancement of allocation of funds for the six ongoing projects to the tune of Rs.655 crore, for electrification of two Sections for Rs.50 crore, for gauge conversion Rs.125 crore, for doubling Rs.500 crore, altogether totaling to Rs.1330 crore, in the ensuing Railway budget.

–        2 –

          Hon’ble Railway Minister gave a patient hearing to the various demands raised by the House Committee and assured to look into the various proposals positively. He further assured that additional funds will be given for the projects in the execution stage for their early completion.

          On Puri-Konark project, Hon’ble Minister suggested that if land can be provided by the State Government, the project can immediately be taken up by the Government of India keeping in view the huge tourist potential of the area.

          The Committee also requested Hon’ble Minister to sanction nine new railway lines for which survey has already been completed. Hon’ble Minister assured that sanction of viable projects will be processed for approval of Planning Commission. The Committee also put forth demand for introduction of new train services, extension of selected existing services, increasing frequency of popular trains, improving quality of onboard services and amenities at the major Railway stations in the state.

          The Hon’ble Minister, Railways directed the Railway officials to examine the proposals given by the House Committee on Railways of OLA.

Various news reports mention some additional details. For example, New Indian Express reports that the committee asked for the following:

Lanjigarh Road-Junagarh- Rs 120 crore, Khurda Road- Balangir-Rs 150 crore, Haridaspur-Paradip-Rs 175 crore, Angul-Dubri- Sukinda Road-Rs 75 crore,Talcher-Bimalagarh-Rs 75 crore, Daitari-Banspani-Rs 60 crore.

Electrification of Kharagpur-Nimpura- Bhubaneswar and Bhubaneswar-Kottavalasa lines-Rs 50 crore, gauge conversion of Rupsa- Bangiriposi and Naupada- Gunupur lines-Rs 50 crore and Rs 75 crore respectively and doubling of Titlagarh- Lanjigarh Road-Rs 500 crore.

Following is an excerpt from a report in Hindu.

Accusing the Centre of depriving ten lakh families in Orissa of the benefits meant for the poor by insisting on listing BPL families in Orissa according to the 2002 list, the Orissa government has announced a low cost housing scheme to cover all those denied houses under the central programme, official sources said.

"Mo Kudia" (My Hut) scheme has been launched to provide houses to 10 lakh poor families who would be deprived of the benefits meant for families living below the poverty line (bpl), Panchayati Raj Minister Raghunath Mohanty said.

The BPL families were entitled to get houses under Indira Awas Yojana (IAY), ration cards and old age pensions.

…The decision to launch +Mo Kudia+ scheme was taken at a high-level meeting presided over by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik here.

Mohanty said the state government had decided to give Rs 25,000 to each BPL family denied a house.

He said nearly 10 lakh people living below poverty line would be deleted from the list, if the state government accepted the fresh list prepared in 2002.

According to a survey of poor people in 1997, nearly 44 lakh families were identified as BPL. But the statistics changed in 2002 when the number of BPL families in the state was reduced to 34 lakh.

Following is an excerpt from a report in Hindu.

… gauge conversion of the 90-km-long Nuapada-Gunupur railway is to be finished," said A K Goyal, general manager, East Coast Railway here on Wednesday.

The gauge conversion work was going on very rapidly and it would be completed by the end of March, he said. In 2007-08, the Railway Ministry has provided Rs 25 crore for this project. The ministry has targetted to extend the line up to rayagada in the next phase.

The 118-year-old railway line was established by the then Maharaja of Paralakhemundi, Krushna Chandra Gajapati in 1889 for his personal use. The narrow gauge railway line was handed over to the Railway Ministry in 1949. Since then the people of southern Orissa have been demanding its upgradation.

Apart from the Nuapada-Gunupur line, the ministry has also targeted to complete the doubling of the railway lines in 15.3 km length Khurdha-Delang, a part of the Khurdha-Puri line, 12 km Cuttack-Barang and Titilagarh-Kesinga, a part of the 47-km long Lanjigarh-Titilagarh railway line by the end of march next, goyal said.

Following is from a report in New Indian Express.

The Rs 2,000-crore titanium plant to be established jointly by the Russian Federation and Kolkata-based Saraf Group at Chatrapur in Ganjam district would lay the base for development of the Special Economic Zone (SEZ).

The SEZ spanning over 600 acres would house beach sand mineral-based industries.

It would be spearheaded by the Russian and Indian partners and developed into an industrial hub as the flagship titanium project gets executed, said General Director of Technochim Holdings L N Bobkov here on Tuesday.

Plans are to pump in around 3 billion USD for development of the SEZ and the concept paper would be submitted to the Governments of India and Russia for consideration and approval.

The high-value applications of titanium as raw material would open a floodgate of opportunities for value-addition by downstream industries.

Units in the sectors of casting, titanium metal, magnesium, automotive and machine parts, electronics , computers and other manufacturing sectors, etc., can come up. The SEZ would also be open to other private players, the developers have said.

Following is an excerpt from travelbizmonitor.com.

Orissa Stevados Ltd (OSL) [? http://www.orissastevedores.com/] plans to bring more hotels into Eastern India, under the brand names Country Inn & Suites (CIS) and Radisson. After its five star properties in Paradeep, Bhubaneswar and Orissa, the group is now taking up projects in Kolkata, Puri, Bhubaneswar, Gopalpur and Guwahati.

On the Kolkata project, Suvodip Rai Choudhury, Manager, Sales and Marketing, OSL, comments, "A twin property is coming up at Rajarhat, Kolkata by the end of 2009. Two five star hotels will be accommodated here in the same complex. …"

OSL is also associated with the first state-of-the-art 50 room hotel in Puri, which is expected to be operational by 2009. The 80 room property in Bhubaneswar and 75 room Gopalpur property are slated to start in 2010. The group is yet to decide on the affiliations of the Bhubaneswar and Puri properties (from CIS or Radisson).

On the projects in Orissa, Choudhury claims that the company is getting far better responses in this state. The hospitality scenario is changing fast with adequate support from the ministry. … OSL employs Country Development Management Service (CDMS) for both operational and management purposes in these properties. On the challenges faced, Rai Choudhury says, "Acquiring quality staff poses as the greatest problem. Moreover, most of our properties have been classified as four star properties despite having all the possible facilities. This is because they do not meet the requisite number of rooms for a five star rating."

Following is an excerpt from a report in Times of India. 

… the state government signing three fresh MoUs for setting up units, taking the total proposed capacity of output to 75.66 mtpa, involving a total investment of nearly Rs 2,00,000 crore, official sources said.

With this, the number of MoUs for establishment of steel units touched 49, including 11 for mega projects. Besides MoUs with the largest steel maker in the world Arcelor-Mittal and South Korean gaint Posco, the government had signed agreements with domestic firms such as Jindal, Tata Steel and others for mega projects.

All the MoUs were signed during the last six years, they said, adding 26 steel projects had already become partially operational while the mega ones were facing land acquisition problem.

The production capacity so far achieved by these companies was 3.96 mtpa in sponge iron, 0.45 mtpa of pig iron and 3.32 mtpa of steel, besides 308 mw captive power plant.

said the three companies would produce one million tonne of steel per annum.

The companies which signed MoUs are Pradhan Steel and Power Private Limited, Atha Mines Private Limited and Tecton Ispat Private Limited.

While Pradhan Steel proposes to set up a 0.50 mtpa steel plant in over 460 acre land with an investment of Rs 606 crore at Dhurusia in Cuttack district, Atha Mines would set up a 0.25 mtpa capacity unit at an investment of Rs 291.60 crore at Tarkabeda in Dhenkanal district. Tecton Ispat would set up a 0.25 mtpa steel unit over 150 acre of land at an investment of Rs 227.13 crore at Tarkebeda in Dhenkanal district.

Following is an excerpt from a report in Pragativadi.

The meeting …accepted two out of the eight project proposals.

The meeting decided that the state government would seek necessary environmental clearance from the Indian Bureau of Mines (IBM) before giving the nod to any proposal for new thermal plants in the Angul-Talcher belt.

Briefing newsmen after the meeting, industry secretary Ashok Dalwai said that state government had asked the IBM to make a detailed study on the environmental sustainability of the Angul-Talcher areas.

He said that the meeting, while discussing about the setting up of a number of thermal plants in the state also took note of the searing heat in this industrial belt during summer.

The Committee gave its nod to Jindal Photo Ltd’s proposal to enhance its power production capacity from 1,000 MT to 1,200 MT in its proposed plant at Angul.

The SLSWCC also approved the Well Spun Power and Steel Ltd’s proposal to set up its ore beneficiation and pelletisation plant at Dhamra.

The company aims to produce ductile iron and spiral iron from this plant, for which Rs 1,830 crore would be invested.

The company has asked the state government to arrange 2,000 acres of land.

The state government will scrutinise the land requirement proposal. The company had earlier inked an MoU with the state government to set up a 3-MT plant at Angul.

The following is from Samaja:

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Following is a report in Sambada which was in its website today. For some reason this news about what the anti-R&R people are about did not appear in major news papers. However, similar actions by POSCO protestors, such as kidnapping officials did have major media coverage. ( Deccan Herald May 12 2007, DNA India October 13 2007).

Also, couple of days back walls of a proposed hospital was demolished in Kalinganagar by armed people. This was widely reported. (Kalinga Times,Statesman, Sahara Samay, etc.)

Following are some excerpts from it.

Gopalpur, with its grand views of sunrise over the Bay of Bengal, is the final destination of the week my wife Clare and I are spending in Orissa, one of India’s least-visited states. It rises to densely forested hills from coastal paddy fields fringed with palm trees and ponds of hyacinths. It feels remote, but has good transport connections with Calcutta and Madras and would suit visitors ready to move on from the Indian “starter pack” of Kerala and the Delhi-Agra-Jaipur Golden Triangle.

Its fame rests on its temples. As our train from Calcutta pulls in at Bhubaneswar, the state capital, I read that the city has about 500 of them. This is not necessarily good news. Over 15 Indian trips, many long afternoons of padding across warm temple floors have left me “templed out”. So what a pleasant surprise Bhubaneswar’s temples will turn out to be.

The city, with its broad avenues and plush hotels – notably the elegant Trident Hilton – has little of the hustle and bustle of a state capital. Its parks, gardens and languid cyclists give it the easygoing charm of small-town India.

This is next to the Kalinga Stadium on the Airport-Infocity Road. With this the major malls and department stores in Bhubaneswar are:

• Forum Mall with Big Bazaar near Ram Mandir
• Big Bazaar near KIIT and Patia Chhack
• Pantaloons near Utkal University and Rama Devi College
• Bazaar of Kolkata
• Couple of Vishal Megamarts  (one in Market Building, one to the right of NH5 South of Jayadev Vihar exits)
• World Shopping Mall near Kalinga Stadium  (this is by a local entrepreneur)