]]> Sat, 31 Jul 2010 http://www.welcomeorissa.com/orissa_news-27168.html http://www.welcomeorissa.com/orissa_news-27169.html BHUBANESWAR: On a day Union Home Minister P Chidambaram promised to eliminate Naxalism in three years, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik reeled out statistics to claim that Maoists drew less blood in Orissa. Drawing a parallel with other affected states, Naveen claimed in the Assembly that Maoist violence came down by 30 per cent during the first six months compared to the corresponding period last year. His statement comes at a time when Naxalite activities have spread to 25 of the 30 districts in the State and the radicals have been striking with alarming regularity. Replying to the debate on Home Department Budget, the Chief Minister took solace that the number of violent incidents in Orissa was less than that in the neighbouring states. In the first six months till June, 68 incidents, involving 42 deaths, were reported in Orissa. During the period, 312 incidents were reported in Chhattisgarh claiming 220 lives and 254 incidents, involving 76 deaths, were reported from Jharkhand. In West Bengal it was 143 deaths in 193 incidents. The discussion was held in the absence of the Congress and the BJP MLAs who have been boycotting the proceedings demanding resignation of the two coal scam tainted ministers. The Congress, however, lashed out at Naveen for the failure of the State Government to contain the Maoist menace. Addressing a media conference here, Deputy Leader of the Congress Legislature Party (CLP) Chakradhar Paik alleged that neglect of tribal areas has enabled the Maoists strengthen their base. The problem cannot be solved by police alone, Paik said and added there should be development initiatives in the tribal areas. The party was bitter that the Chief Minister did not take the peoples representatives of the areas into confidence. Naveen has not convened a single meeting of MLAs of the areas, into where the Maoists have made inroads in the recent years, Paik pointed out.

]]> Sat, 31 Jul 2010 http://www.welcomeorissa.com/orissa_news-27169.html http://www.welcomeorissa.com/orissa_news-27170.html BHUBANESWAR: Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik today announced in the Assembly that the State Government would continue with efforts to detect corruption cases and no one will be spared if found guilty during the course of investigation. Replying to the discussion on the Home Department budget, the Chief Minister said last year 383 criminal cases had been registered against government employees, public servants and private persons. This is the highest number of cases registered by the State Vigilance in its history. Naveen said 223 criminal cases had been registered by the Vigilance during the first six months of the year adding, 69 cases ended in conviction which is 51 per cent of the total disposal in 2009. The State now has nine special judge courts trying vigilance cases. Steps are being taken to open three more new courts at Bhawanipatna, Phulbani and Keonjhar. After enactment of Special Courts Act in 2006, two special courts -- one each at Cuttack and Bhubaneswar -- have started functioning since May 17, 2008 for trial of disproportionate assets cases against persons in high political and public offices, he said. Referring to prison administration, the Chief Minister said all efforts are being made to modernise and upgrade the prison administration. The Government is committed to filling up all vacant posts in prison administration, as of now only 95 warder posts are vacant against the sanctioned strength of 1,435 posts. Out of the 86 prisons in Orissa, 37 have been fortified and 18 more will be fortified by August-end. Stating that the country now faces an external threat from the sea side, the Chief Minister said Orissas 480 km coast should also be prepared for the new challenge. All the five coastal police stations sanctioned by the Centre for the State have been operationalised, he said, adding that a proposal for establishment of 13 more marine police stations has been submitted. Besides, the State Government has carried on the process of filling up vacancies and increasing the strength of the police force to meet todays challenges. He said the number of police personnel per lakh of population has gone up from 90 in 2005 to 101 in 2008. Naveen informed that out of the total allocation of Rs 491.24 crore from 2000-01 to 2009-10 under the police modernisation scheme, more than 97 per cent has been utilised.

]]> Sat, 31 Jul 2010 http://www.welcomeorissa.com/orissa_news-27170.html http://www.welcomeorissa.com/orissa_news-27171.html CUTTACK: Five witnesses were produced in the District and Sessions Judge Court as trial proceeded in the alleged Kandhamal nun gang rape case today. The time petition filed by prosecution on behalf of the nun seeking a months time for deposition, however, did not come up for hearing today. With the in camera proceedings, the court of Judge BK Mishra saw prosecution lawyer Laxmidhar Mishra recording statements of three witnesses including the doctors Sangita Mishra and Smita Marandi, who had first examined the alleged victim and additional district magistrate in-charge of law and order during the riots, Subash Suar. The three were also cross-examined by defence counsel Sauri Mohapatra. According to sources, while Dr Mishras statement was recorded and she was cross-examined, Dr Marandi was excluded on grounds of agreeing with the formers statement. Assistant Director of State Forensic Laboratory B Ray was also not cross-examined with both the prosecution and defence agreeing on his report. Suar and a general witness Subash Digal were cross-examined.

]]> Sat, 31 Jul 2010 http://www.welcomeorissa.com/orissa_news-27171.html http://www.welcomeorissa.com/orissa_news-27172.html PARADIP: Rohit Behera and Basant Behera of Noliasahi, who were given compensation of Rs 1.15 lakh each by the government for acquisition of their 10 decimal land used for cultivation of betel vine, have sought help of the elected representatives to file case against survey officials. They have alleged that the officials of the land acquisition team forced them to accept the compensation in lieu of the land. While Rohit, a supporter of Posco Pratirodha Sangram Samiti, alleged that he was given a bribe of Rs 5,000, Basant said he was forced by the survey team to accept the compensation amount. Refuting the allegation, Erasama BDO Murlidhar Swain said the betel vines were demolished after Rohit and Basant agreed to the acquisition proposal. He added that 50 other beneficiaries had given their consent to demolish their betel vines which would be done tomorrow.

]]> Sat, 31 Jul 2010 http://www.welcomeorissa.com/orissa_news-27172.html http://www.welcomeorissa.com/orissa_news-27173.html PARADIP: Even as school education in Jagatsinghpur district has been hit for lack of adequate number of teachers, the students are now facing acute scarcity of books. On Tuesday, hundreds of schoolchildren and their parents locked the Patita Paban Upper Primary Nodal School at Amberi under Tirtol block protesting non-availability of books and a large number of vacancies in teacher posts. Around 1.40 lakh students are studying in 1,617 primary schools and the requirement of books is 7.40 lakh but the Mass Education Department has supplied only one lakh books. The angry parents said that their agitation would continue till their demands of appointment of teachers and provision of books are met. They alleged that the school runs classes from I to VII. But there are only four teachers for around 300 students. District project coordinator of Sarva Siksha Abhiyan Nirmal Dash said steps were being taken to provide the books at the earliest.

]]> Sat, 31 Jul 2010 http://www.welcomeorissa.com/orissa_news-27173.html http://www.welcomeorissa.com/orissa_news-27174.html BHUBANESWAR: Alleging that the white paper circulated by the State Government has not given a true picture of the crime situation in Orissa, the Congress today announced that it will seek information on this through RTI Act and take the matter to people. Addressing newsmen, Congress MLA Santosh Singh Saluja said block-wise information on the number of crime incidents will be sought by the party through the RTI. The figures will be placed before the people to expose the Governments attempt to suppress the matter. Stating that the number of crimes which took place in Orissa was far higher than what has been given in the white paper, Saluja said at many places the rule of law does not exist. He said there is no police presence in several Naxal-affected areas of the State. Deputy leader of the Congress Legislature Party (CLP) Chakradhar Paik criticised the Government for neglecting the tribals which has helped the Naxals strengthen their bases in these tribal dominated areas. Brajrajnagar MLA Anup Sai demanded that the Government should constitute a state vigilance commission for impartial inquiry into corruption cases. The MLAs criticised the BJD MLAs for blaming the Centre for the price rise. The State Government is trying to deflect attention of the people from its failure on the price rise front by blaming the Centre, they added.

]]> Sat, 31 Jul 2010 http://www.welcomeorissa.com/orissa_news-27174.html http://www.welcomeorissa.com/orissa_news-27175.html CUTTACK: The case on rehabilitation of the evicted families of Jay Mangala Basti at Ranihat continues to linger as the Orissa High Court today posted further hearing to August 4. The division bench comprising Chief Justice V Gopala Gowda and Justice I Mohanty has, though, almost completed hearing in the eviction case. The bench today directed the counsel for the Central Government to file an affidavit on the budget and provisions in the schemes for development of slum-dwellers by August 4. During the hearing, Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Department, Orissa, and Director of Housing and Poverty Alleviation under the Union Urban Development Ministry were present. On behalf of the State two affidavits were filed, one by the Collector, Cuttack, and the other by the Secretary, Housing and Urban Development Department. Appearing for the State, Advocate General Ashok Mohanty stated that the administration had identified 257 slums of which 82 were on Government land. The Court while reserving the verdict has directed for continuation of interim management like provision of food, water and shelter to the evicted families.

]]> Sat, 31 Jul 2010 http://www.welcomeorissa.com/orissa_news-27175.html http://www.welcomeorissa.com/orissa_news-27176.html BHUBANESWAR The Orissa State Pollution Control Board (OSPCB) is all set to file criminal cases against three medical colleges and hospitals (MCHs) as well as seven district headquarters hospitals of the State for continuous violation of Biomedical Waste (Management and Handling) Rules. The superintendents and in-charges of bio-medical waste management at SCB, MKCG and VSS Medical will be slapped criminal charges. Besides, similar cases would be filed against the district hospitals of Kandhamal, Jagatsinghpur, Keonjhar, Nabarangpur, Nayagarh, Nuapada and Ganjam under the Environment Protection Act, 1988, well-placed sources said. Cases will be booked against other hospitals of the State in phases in the days to come. The Regional Officers of the Board are authorised to file prosecution in the respective SDJM courts which are designated to try such cases. Conviction attracts a jail term of up to five years or a penalty up to Rs 1 lakh. All these health institutions have long been flouting biomedical waste handling rules and were served notices by the Board to mend their ways. The OSPCB issues authorisation to the health institutions with certain conditions. When the conditions are flouted, the Board serves show-cause notices on them as to why authorisation should not be revoked. Despite being given repeated chances, most have not acted. Earlier this month, the Orissa High Court asked the Board to initiate criminal cases against the MCHs as well as other institutions within a month. An HC-appointed committee comprising amicus curiae PR Das and petitioner of the PIL on biomedical waste disposal in MCHs and hospitals Ajoy Mohanty had submitted before the court a report on state-of-affairs at Cuttack, Burla and Berhampur and cited serious deficiencies.

]]> Sat, 31 Jul 2010 http://www.welcomeorissa.com/orissa_news-27176.html http://www.welcomeorissa.com/orissa_news-27177.html BHUBANESWAR: A day after Dr Brahmananda Pandas gruesome murder, the police tried to link the evidence at hand with suspects and possible motives to arrive at any conclusion. A special squad, headed by Bhubaneswar Deputy Commissioner of Police Himansu Lal, was on the job but no arrests were made yet although there were reports that police had zeroed in on the killer. Sources said, police were trying to ascertain the role of a staff from whose possession cash and a necklace has reportedly been recovered. But it was not possible to pin him down with just that since valuables may or may not belong to the surgeon. Reports also pointed at some past staff but no clear picture emerged today. Still short of a clinching evidence such as an eyewitness or a murder weapon that could prove vital, the investigators kept questioning the nursing home staff, both current and past ones. All possible angles were being looked into. Past enmity and vengeance given the nature of the crime were topmost on the mind while theft as a reason was not ruled out either. There is a fair probability that an insider is involved but it is too early to conclude anything. Besides, we have found it difficult to correlate any particular persons involvement with the crime scene, said a senior police officer. Since the murder was detected a good 10 hours after it was committed, the assailant(s)) had ample time to get rid of the evidence. The assailant(s) is believed to have cleaned himself in a wash basin in Pandas flat after the crime.

]]> Sat, 31 Jul 2010 http://www.welcomeorissa.com/orissa_news-27177.html http://www.welcomeorissa.com/orissa_news-27178.html BHUBANESWAR: As many as 417 persons have had their telephones intercepted by the Orissa Government over a two-year period between 2006 and 2008. The Home Department which supplied this information to a RTI applicant maintained that in all cases, its telephone tapping order was approved by the Review Committee headed by the Chief Secretary. Interesting as it may sound, it took almost two years for RTI activist Biswapriya Kanungo to elicit this information on telephone tapping in the State. His attempts with the Home Department, Crime Branch and the Intelligence Wing of State Police had failed before he turned to State Information Commission. The Commission on July 19 directed the Home Department to furnish the number of telephone interceptions made in the State between November 10, 2008 and December 28, 2008. As per the Home Department PIOs response, telephones of three persons were intercepted in 2006 while next year, the number swelled to 111. In 2008, 303 telephones were tapped. According to the Indian Telegraph Act, Home Department is the competent authority to order telephone tapping which should be done in situations of public emergency and safety. Neither the DGP nor the Commissioner of Police is authorised to intercept telephones. The Home Department also informed that all 417 cases were approved by the Review Committee which comprises Development Commissioner and Law Secretary as members besides the Chief Secretary. Although the law provides that all cases of telephone tapping must be placed before the Review Committee for vetting within seven working days, the Home Department said: Orders passed by the competent authority for telephone interception are placed before the committee when convened.

]]> Sat, 31 Jul 2010 http://www.welcomeorissa.com/orissa_news-27178.html http://www.welcomeorissa.com/orissa_news-27179.html ANGUL Acute shortage of teachers is affecting studies in one of the oldest high schools of the State, Mahendra High School at Athmallik. The situation is so grim that about 57 students who took admission in various classes in the current session have taken transfer to other schools. The piqued parents in a meeting on July 23 threatened to lock the school indefinitely from July 31 if the government fails to post teachers in the school by today. The apathy and callous attitude of the Circle Inspector (CI) of Dhenkanal is apparent with all pleas of the parents in the last five years for appointment of the minimum number of required teachers falling on deaf ears. "The strength of the students in the classes from VI to X is 715. However, there are only six regular teachers as against the normal requirement of 29," said a parent. The parents association provided five contractual teachers and paid them salaries from their own pockets. However, it did not solve the problem, which has made a dent into the fame of the school. It is also noteworthy that the school is in the constituency of Transport and Commerce Minister Sanjeeb Sahu but no efforts are being made by the political leadership to address such an important issue. On the other hand, Sub-Collector Umakanta Tripathy said that he had written to the CI of Dhenkanal to do the needful.

]]> Sat, 31 Jul 2010 http://www.welcomeorissa.com/orissa_news-27179.html http://www.welcomeorissa.com/orissa_news-27180.html DHENKANAL: A FARMER of Jasipur gram panchayat in Kankadahada block here Ahuja Dehury (23) allegedly committed suicide by consuming pesticide last night. Sources said he had been under pressure over repayment of loans that he had taken for farming. Dehury, a vegetable farmer, had taken Rs 45,000 loan from an SHG and local cooperative society two years back. He, however, failed to repay it within the stipulated time. He had an altercation with his wife last night after the SHG members arrived at his doorstep demanding repayment of the loan amount along with interest. Irate villagers blocked Mahavir Road over Dehurys suicide. Kandahada BDO B P Acharya said the deceased had borrowed Rs 20,000 and Rs 10,000 from Shakti Maa Mangala SHG and another SHG. He added that details into the incident can only be known after a thorough investigation.

]]> Sat, 31 Jul 2010 http://www.welcomeorissa.com/orissa_news-27180.html http://www.welcomeorissa.com/orissa_news-27181.html BERHAMPUR: Tension prevailed on the campus of MKCG Medical College and Hospital here today after police took 19 medicos into custody for their alleged involvement in a group clash. Those arrested included students of the second and final year of MBBS. While eight students were arrested from one group, 11 were from another, all of whom have been forwarded to the court. The clash took place after a senior student allegedly assaulted a first year student of the college following an altercation. Police are keeping a strict vigil on the situation and a team is patrolling on the campus to thwart any further incident. College authorities said they are trying to solve the dispute among the students through mutual understanding.

]]> Sat, 31 Jul 2010 http://www.welcomeorissa.com/orissa_news-27181.html http://www.welcomeorissa.com/orissa_news-27182.html CUTTACK: Despite Hepatitis B emerging as a significant public health problem that has almost 4 per cent population in its grip, failure to include its vaccines in the immunisation programme has raised consternation among health experts. The Union Health Ministry has announced inclusion of Hep B vaccines in the National Policy for Vaccination three years back, but implementation at the community-level is still non-existent. While high incidence nations like Taiwan have brought down the prevalence drastically through mass immunisation programmes, in India the disease has been left free to spread its tentacles. In 1984, Taiwan had incidence of 20 per cent. Today it is between two and 3 per cent only. The initial disinclination of the Indian Government to include Hep B vaccine stemmed from the high cost of around Rs 1,500 a decade back. But now, the three doses combined cost only Rs 50 while the DPT vaccine costs around Rs 47. Therefore, there is no reason why there should be further hesitation in starting the mass administration programme, president of the Indian Society of Gastroenterology and Professor of Gastroenterology of Sanjay Gandhi Postgraduate Institute of Medical Sciences, Lucknow, Dr Gourdas Choudhuri said on the sidelines of the 10th Hepatitis B Eradication Day function organised by the Kalinga Gastroenterology Foundation and the department of Gastroenterology, SCBMCH. He also stressed ante-natal screening for Hep B among expectant mothers. Mother-to-child transmission is exceptionally high with Hep B and thus screening during pregnancy is a must like haemoglobin tests, etc., he said. Chairman of KGF Prof SP Singh stressed on raising awareness among the population for one of the most pertinent but neglected public health concerns at present. Only about one third of the population in coastal Eastern India are aware of Hep B and its vaccine. In Orissa, the level was still lower at around 20 per cent, he said. A poster competition and a young sportspersons rally was organised to mark the occasion. The observations this year assume significance as the WHO has declared July 28 as the World Hepatitis Day while KGF has been celebrating it for the last 10 years.

]]> Sat, 31 Jul 2010 http://www.welcomeorissa.com/orissa_news-27182.html http://www.welcomeorissa.com/orissa_news-27183.html JAJPUR: Anti-displacement agitators drove away labour suppliers and petty contractors from Tata steel project site at the Kalinga Nagar industrial area today. Eight of them, who reached the site on motorcycles and about to begin work to level the ground, were confronted by around 25 masked youths. The labour suppliers and petty contractors then fled from the spot leaving their vehicles behind which were then set ablaze by the agitators. Sources said the agitators were in the age group of 20s and 30s. The miscreants also torched a tipper used in the ground levelling work and injured two persons including an old woman who happens to be a Tata supporter. The injured were admitted to the local government hospital and one of them was later shifted to a private hospital in Bhubaneswar after her condition deteriorated. The injured have been identified as Raimani Deogan (60), residing in Tata Transit Colony and Dusmanta Behera, a tipper driver. Confirming the incident, SP D S Kuttey said identity of most of the persons involved has been established and they would be rounded up soon. Visthapan Virodhi Jan Manch secretary Rabindra Jarika denied the groups involvement in the incident.

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