Orissa to get second flying training institute in Berhampur

Berhampur, May 30 (PTI): Plans are afoot to develop Orissa's second flying training institute at Rangeilunda airstrip (in Berhampur University campus) near Berhampur city.

The ministry of Civil Aviation wants to use Rangeilunda airstrip as a flying training institute. Binodini Devi, a senior captain from the ministry, visited the airstrip recently and discussed the project with engineers of the works department in Berhampur, Ganjam district collector V K Pandian said. It is noteworthy, Orissa's first flying training institute is in Bhubaneswar.

A senior pilot of the ministry also visited the Rangeilunda airstrip site last week and asked the works engineer to develop it as a Visual Flight Rule (VFR) airstrip and to provide at least two rooms to conduct the pilot training institute. "We have agreed to provide all necessary infrastructure facilities to the ministry to use Rangeilunda airstrip as a flying training institute," K Pandian said.

Source: PTI

Berhampur University introduced on-line admission

The portal for the purpose was inaugurated by the Vice Chancellor (VC) of the university, Bijay Kumar Sahu on May 28. This new portal of the Berhampur University has been developed by the Biju Patnaik Computer Centre (BPCC) on the campus with assistance from the National Informatics Centre (NIC). The newly developed website of the university is www.bamu.nic.in.

The function organised for the purpose was presided by the new Post Graduate Council chairman of the university, L.N.Raut. The director of the BPCC Trinath Sahu and its former director Rabindra Mishra elaborated how the portal had been made extreme user-friendly for the applicants for admission. The V-C said this project was part of the continuing University Grants Commission (UGC) sponsored e-governance project in the university. According to him every University now had to be technically advanced to match with the changing times.

Source: The Hindu

Ancient Buddha Vihar, stone images of Lord Ganesh and Goddess Saraswati unearthed in Kendrapara District

KENDRAPARA: The remains of a Buddha Vihar along with some stone images of Lord Buddha, Lord Ganesh, Goddess Saraswati and other deities were unearthed from Laxminarayanpur village in the Kendrapara district. Some workers stumbled across the ancient Buddha Vihar while they were digging earth for a pond.

A two-feet-high image of Lord Ganesh having four hands, three-feet-long meditating Buddha idol, threefeet- high idol of Goddess Saraswati, high framed earthen bowls, jars, coins and some stones with inscriptions were found.

The residents have shifted these unearthed idols and other articles to the village temple. Laxminarayanpur is situated near the near the famous Buddhist site at Lalitagiri. These areas had been famous for Buddhist civilisation in the past.

Courtesy: The New Indian Express

Berhampur-Bangladesh power transmission line mooted

Bangladesh preparing to import Indian power

DHAKA: Bangladesh will allocate Taka 17 billion (USD 245 million) in its annual budget next month for constructing the infrastructure necessary to import 500 MW of electricity from India, an official said. Finance minister Abul Maal Abdul Muhith has consented to the allocation.

A senior official of the power ministry said that the allocation would be used for building a transmission line from Berhampur in India's Orissa state to Bheramara in Bangladesh and to set up a substation. The official, however, said that the project may need more than the sum allocated, New Age newspaper said Monday. Energy-starved Bangladesh signed an energy deal with India in January when Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina visited New Delhi. Opposition leader Khaleda Zia has criticised the government for creating "an artificial power crisis" that would require power import without going through tenders and other trade procedures.

Economists and businessmen at a seminar organised Sunday called for "transparency" in power deals and asked the government to take a long-term view of the country's power requirements.

Source: Economic Times

NIST ranked best professional College in Orissa along with CET by BPUT students

All Odisha BPUT Students Association (AOBSA), the students body of Biju Patnaik University of Technology, Odisha has launched the 1st edition of “Odisha Professional College Ranking -2010” a 50 days programme which has started from 10th May 2010. The college ranking has covered nearly 180 professional colleges providing bachelor and master degree in Engineering, Pharmacy, Architecture, Hotel Management etc. This ranking was open to all constituents and affiliated colleges of the state run technical university i.e BPUT. Nearly 90000 students from 180 colleges have rated their college online on the Students Portal i.e. www.bputstudents.com.

At the end of the ranking period the result was announced, in which with 98% score NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY (NIST), Berhampur and COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING & TECHNOLOGY (CET), Bhubaneswar jointly stood at the top of Odisha Professional College Ranking -2010

It’s the first of its kind in India where students of various institutes have voted for their college on parameters like Industry Exposure, Learning and faculty, Infrastructure, Placement & Extra-Curricular.

Since the formation of a technical university in Odisha no such initiative was taken by the university authority to rank the colleges .Even after various demands from the students along with the colleges it take nearly 8 years to start the ranking of colleges on the basis of students feedback.

Undoubtedly, Odisha Professional College Ranking will surely unveil a new dimension to nearly 73,587 students those who have appeared the Orissa Joint Entrance Examination (OJEE) 2010.Parents of the OJEE aspirants will also get an opportunity to judge the best college for his ward by following this ranking procedure.

Top 20 professional institutes in Odisha

1. COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING & TECHNOLOGY, BHUBANESWAR (98)

2. NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY, BERHAMPUR (98)

3. IIIT, BHUBANESWAR (96)

4. INSTITUTE OF TECHNICAL EDUCATION & RESEARCH, BHUBANESWAR (95.4)

5. SILICON INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY, BHUBANESWAR (92.87)

6. CENTRAL INSTITUTE OF PLASTICS ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY (92)

7. ORISSA SCHOOL OF MINING ENGINEERING, KEONJHAR (86)

8. C. V. RAMAN COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING, BHUBANESWAR (84)

9. INDIRA GANDHI INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY, SARANG (79.8)

10. GANDHI INSTITUTE OF ENGINEERING & TECHNOLOGY, GUNUPUR (79)

11. TRIDENT ACADEMY OF TECHNOLOGY, BHUBANESWAR (78)

12. EASTERN ACADEMY OF SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY, PHULNAKHRA (77)

13. TEMPLECITY INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY & ENGINEERING, BHUBANESWAR (75.8)

14. ORISSA ENGINEERING COLLEGE, BHUBANESWAR (75)

15. COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING, BHUBANESWAR (74)

16. KOUSTUV INSTITUTE OF SELF DOMAIN, BHUBANESWAR (73.5)

17. GANDHI INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGICAL ADVANCEMENT, BHUBANESWAR (72)

18. PARALA MAHARAJA ENGINEERING COLLEGE, BERHAMPUR (72)

19. KRUPAJALA ENGINEERING COLLEGE, BHUBANESWAR (71.2)

20. DHANESWAR RATH INSTITUTE OF ENGG. AND MGMT. STUDIES, CUTTACK

Source: http://www.bputstudents.com/

Berhampur Municipal Corporation takes up beautification of city

 Paintings on tribal life of Koraput depicted on city walls

The city walls have started to come alive with paintings depicting tribal life of undivided Koraput district. It is part of the effort of the Berhampur Municipal Corporation to beautify the city. Most of the walls of public buildings by the side of major roads in the city have got decorated by paintings. These walls earlier bore mutilated look due to posters and graffiti.

But the city dwellers are wondering how come tribal paintings and pictures depicting tribal life got predominance in these paintings. It may be noted that Silk city Berhampur, the largest trading centre of south Orissa and an emerging business destination in eastern India also known as the gateway to South Orissa and the undivided Koraput district. So, no one has complained about it.

But the reason behind this predominant depiction of tribal life on city walls is that some of the painters are from Koraput. Five painters from Koraput have been utilised by the local municipal corporation are involved in this painting work. These painters are also quite happy as it has provided them necessary income source. Senior painter in the team, Manoj Kumar Patnaik said such beautification efforts by urban bodies can provide income source to painters. He added that in recent years, advent of modern printing and large printed flex boards had snatched away earnings of painters. He said they are being paid Rs. 22 per square feet of painting. Till now they have painted 22,000 square feet of wall around the city.

Apart from tribal life and traditional tribal paintings, these young painters have also depicted issues related to common man like global warming, depletion of forest cover, wastage of water resources etc. But most of the time the characters depicted in these paintings tend to be tribals. These painters have also drawn up some paintings related to problems of the city like drinkig water crisis and rise in fire accidents during summer months. Source: The Hindu 

Red Ribbon Express a big draw with youth in Berhampur

By Sib Kumar Das

320 get tested for HIV during the two-day stay of the train at Berhampur

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  During the visit of Red Line Express in 2008, there was no testing facility
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  Inside the Red Ribbon Express there were five counselling units

The two-day stay of the Red Ribbon Express in Berhampur to reach out to inhabitants of Ganjam district, the most HIV-prone area of the state, made them break the silence. Before the train left for Bhubaneswar on Saturday night, 320 persons had got themselves tested at the HIV testing facility inside the train. A large chunk of them were youths. Some of them also got themselves tested for Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STD) infection. There were also girls among the youths who opted for HIV test. These volunteers had to undergo TriDot test. One among them was found to be HIV positive. He was referred to the MKCG medical college hospital for confirmatory test.

ERHAMPUR: As a welcome change in psyche, common men especially the youths in Orissa have started to come out for voluntary testing to ascertain their status regarding HIV infection.

Inside the Red Ribbon Express there were five counselling units. Four of them were for HIV/AIDS while the other was for STD. These counselling chambers remained packed throughout the time when the train remained open for the public, said Manoj Kumar Sahu of mircrobiology department of MKCG medical college, who served as a counsellor. Mr Sahu said the greatest welcome change in attitude was that the persons who opted for the HIV test did not feel shy that they had opted for the test. There were many from rural areas who came back after a day to collect their reports regarding HIV infection, said Mr Sahu.

Lokanath Mishra, regional coordinator of the Orissa State AIDS Control Society (OSACS), said during the last visit of the Red Line Express to the city in 2008, there was no facility for HIV testing. But this time testing facility was a huge draw. “It is a welcome change that the youths who thought they may be having risky life style preferred to voluntarily approach the counsellors and opt for HIV test,” he said. According to him this psychological acceptance of HIV test among the youth would prove to be a great catalyst in checking HIV menace in this high prevalence area.

There were also some youths from rural areas for whom the HIV test was a thing of pride and importance. A youth from Khallikote area who used to work as a migrant labourer in a textile mill in Surat got himself tested to get a report that he was free from HIV infection. “For me this report that I am free from HIV infection would be a gift to my spouse who always suspects I may have got infected by the killer disease like some of my migrant labourer friends,” he said................ Read Full Story............ Source: The Hindu