Unprecedented real-estate boom in Greater Berhampur

Berhampur city is witnessing a massive real estate boom like never before. While mega residential projects are being announced almost on a regular basis, even real-estate investors from various others cities like Bhubaneswar, Vizag, Surat and Mumbai are flocking in large numbers to make the most of this huge demand for residential apartments in Berhampur city. 

Estimates say that more than hundred mega residential apartments are under construction in and around the city.
One real estate watcher observed that investment of this magnitude is unprecedented in this southern city, and for that matter in a state like Orissa, and can only be compared with the State capital, which witnessed a similar trend in the recent past.

The massive real estate boom in Berhampur can be attributed to the huge migration of people from the interior pockets of Ganjam, South Orissa, Coastal Orissa and neighboring districts of Andhra Pradesh in search of better livelihood opportunities and for its education, trade and transport base.

Infact, one real estate agency of Berhampur city pointed that the skyrocketing housing prices in the state capital which has become almost unaffordable for the middle class has led to this housing boom in Berhampur as the going property prices here are considerably lesser than Bhubaneswar. The city is also well connected with other parts of the country and much cheaper cost of living than the state capital. 

The construction boom in the city is likely to change the landscape of Greater Berhampur Region in the years to come with many projects lined up in the city outskirts and especially in areas like Ambapua, Khodasingi, Gosaninuagaon, Narendrapur, Mandiapalli, Rangeilunda, Haldiapadar, Konisi, Gopalpur and Chatrapur.

Non-resident Oriyas have become the biggest investors and drivers of this real estate boom, said a veteran of the city who has seen it growing over the past decades.

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Orissa a huge investment destination: ASSOCHAM

Despite the raging issues of land acquisition and local resistance, industrialisation has gone off in a big way in the State. About 45.9 per cent of the total outstanding investments had actually gone on ground while 51 per cent of the live investment projects were past the announcement stage, an independent study by the the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM) has revealed.  Only 3 per cent of the projects were hindered due to reasons like obstructions, land acquisition, cancellations due to market policy and obtaining environment clearances.

 Releasing the study “Sustaining Growth Momentum in Orissa” on Thursday, the industry body stated that the State had 574 live investment projects to the tune of Rs 11.3 lakh crore as of 2010. Registering a growth of over 19 per cent year-on-year, it had attracted 72 fresh live investments notching over Rs 1.8 lakh crore in 2010.

Orissa, in fact, has notched a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 8.8 per cent during the last decade surpassing its regional peers West Bengal’s 6.7 per cent, Bihar’s 7.3 per cent and Assam’s 5.3 per cent, Chairman of ASSOCHAM Regional Development Council and CMD of Radico Khaitan Group Lalit Khaitan said.

Projecting a roadmap for the future, the industry body has emphasised on greater thrust on relatively unexplored areas with great potential. The study has identified marine and fisheries as a key growth sector. With such a vast coastline and sweet water resources flourishing with marine potential, the State has not been able to capitalise on the opportunities in the sector. “Marine and inland fisheries contribute only 1.1 per cent of GDP with 4.8 per cent decadal growth. Focus should be shifted to attracting investment to this lucrative sector,” Chairman of ASSOCHAM Electronics Council Anirudh Dhoot said. 

Non-veg food on Grand Road (Puri) banned

PURI: Sale of non-vegetarian food along the Grand Road will be banned henceforth. This was decided at the final preparatory meeting, presided over by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on the annual Rath Yatra, held on June 22. This year, the Rath Yatra will be held on July 3.

It was also decided that all billboards and hoardings obstructing the temple view would be removed. Naveen directed the officials concerned to limit the number of servitors on the three chariots as per the guidelines. The old Kanakmundi, a decorative canopy above the Ratna Simhasan in the sanctum sanctorum, would be replaced by a new one by the Archaeological Survey of India.

This apart, the house directed the authorities concerned to seal five unsafe buildings close to temple. 

Western Samurai win premier OPL title

Holding their nerves together during crunch situations, Western Samurai of Rourkela won the first edition of Odisha Premier League (OPL) T20 cricket tournament defeating Barabati Tigers of Cuttack by four runs in the final match played under floodlights at Barabati Stadium in Cuttack.

Defending a paltry total of 112 runs they made losing seven wickets in their allotted 20 overs, Samurai bowlers led by man of the final Amit Das fought back valiantly to tame the Tigers and restricted the local team to 108 for five in the stipulated overs.

Braving a massive crowd supporting the rival team and unfavorable playing conditions, the Group ‘A’ toppers—the only team from Western Odisha gathered all strengths to pull up a stunning victory in the summit clash thereby creating history. Not only did they subjugate the roaring Tigers to capture the glittering trophy made up of pure silver worth Rs 5 lakh, the Samurai combatant also pocketed whopping prize money of 4 lakh for their magnificent all-round show.

Source: The Pioneer 

Prahalad Nataka: A form of traditional theatre of Ganjam

By Priya Pryadarshini, Bhanja Bihar, Berhampur 

Ganjam is the hub of classical and traditional beauty. Be it in the terms of song, dance, drama or theatrical show, Ganjam has a unique position in all these regards. Among all ‘Prahalad Nataka’ stands tall in all respective quarters of the culture. The tale is based on the incarnation of Lord Vishnu, ‘Nursingha’. Prahalad the great devotee of Lord Vishnu goes against the will of his father and worships Vishnu. Hiranyakashyap the father of Prahalad declares himself as the God and rebels against the almighty for which he gets punished.

The play is developed from the stories of mythological books like ‘Bhagat Gita’, ‘Vishnu Purana’ and ‘Nursingha Purana’. The act is full of emotions varying from courage to anger.

Source: flickr

King Ramakrushna Chotray of Jalanta was the first to initiate the production of this act. He called the famous dramatist and musician Gaurahar Parcha of Paralakhamundi who scripted the play for the first time. It was the first enacted in the region of Jalanta. It is primarily an Odiya play. Yet, the neighboring Telugu speaking regions do translate it into their own language and do perform it in their own areas. It is a play which has classical music as its main element.

In Ganjam the play is also called as ‘Rajanataka’. It continues for three to seven nights. The play though not edited in the form of episode or serial number has got a special way of presenting style. The presenter first starts the act by reciting the ‘Gurudeva’, ‘Ganesh’ and ‘Sarada Vandana’. After that the summary of the script is presented. Next the characters are called on the stage and the presentation goes on.

‘Prahalad Nataka’ is famous because of its presentation style and subject matter. Mostly the dance format is used for description of each character that also speaks of the emotions like devotion and pride.

Source: Orissadiary.com  

BJD in soup over ‘horse trading' in Rajya Sabha poll

The political crisis in the ruling Biju Janata Dal took a new turn on Friday following a media expose claiming that two young Ministers of the Naveen Patnaik Government were involved in horse trading during last year's Rajya Sabha election with a Congress MLA.

A local TV channel ran stories claiming that it has audio evidence that Minister of Energy Atanu Sabyasachi Nayak and Labour and Employment Minister Pushpendra Singh Deo bargained with Congress MLA Sivaji Majhi to remain absent during the voting to ensure the victory of the BJD’s third candidate.

The media expose has created a flutter in political circles with the opposition political parties demanding removal and arrest of the two Ministers besides a CBI inquiry into the episode.

Puspendra Singh Deo was not available for his reaction, while Nayak defended himself as innocent and dared the Opposition to prove his involvement.

Singh Deo has been asked by the party leadership to catch hold of those alleged mediators, who had cunningly recorded his statements during telephonic talks relating to the outstanding payments towards the deal to persuade Congress MLA Majhi to abstain from the polling.

Atanu Nayak rubbished the allegation as politically motivated. "It is a well-planned conspiracy against me and to lower my party's image as the elections to the Panchayati Raj bodies are round the corner," he said.

He said the Opposition parties used to resort to such kind of political gimmicks prior to every election against the BJD. He dared the Opposition and the concerned media house to prove his involvement in the horse trading.

However, the Opposition BJP slammed the BJD for the horse trading to show its oneupmanship in politics. Dubbing it as unethical and illegal, BJP State president Jual Oram demanded that the 2010 Rajya Sabha elections be declared illegal and the State Government probe the entire incident through the CBI.

Condemning the "unethical" approach of the ruling BJD led by Naveen Patnaik to show its strength, Oram said that after the media expose, the two Ministers in question should be removed from the Ministry and they be arrested forthwith by initiating criminal proceedings against them.

Alleging that the ruling BJD had fixed the election of its three candidates despite the lack of numbers, Oram had said that BJD had managed to bargain with three MLAs, Sivaji Majhi, Grigori Minz of Congress and Bhimsen Choudhury of BJP In exchange of huge money to remain absent during the voting process to help the third candidate in form of Baisnab Parida to get through.

Similarly, the Congress announced that the party would take disciplinary action against Sivaji Maji for being sold to the BJD. PCC president Niranjan Patnaik said the issue should not be taken lightly and the CBI should inquire into the matter.

SOSA demands for the establishment of I.I.I.T at Berhampur

(Full text of the letter, submitted to the Hon’ble Chief Minister of Odisha) 

Hon’ble Chief Minister Sir,

As you are aware, the Central government has announced the establishment of 20 Greenfield IIITs (Indian Institute of Information Technology) across the country during the 11^th and 12^th Five Year Plan periods. Since the Government of Odisha has made its intentions known for locating the proposed IIIT at Berhampur city, it becomes an imperative that prompt efforts are made to ensure the establishment of proposed IIIT sanctioned for Odisha at Berhampur city. Since the state Government was awaiting the nod of the central government to go ahead with locating the proposed IIIT in Berhampur, the recent announcement regarding the establishment of 20 new IIITs should end the uncertainty surrounding this much awaited institution.  

Notwithstanding the fact that the state government had promised for the establishment of the IIIT at Berhampur and assured the people to that effect in the past, the demand is also backed by sound reasoning. First, Berhampur city, for that matter Ganjam District, is yet to have a centrally funded Institute and the absence of which is proving detrimental to an underdeveloped region like south Orissa. Second, Orissa has so far established two IIITs at Bhubaneswar and Sambalpur and therefore the establishment of the centrally funded IIIT at Berhampur will lead to better distribution of IT education base in the state. Third, the Planning Commission data suggests that Ganjam and other southern districts are among the districts with a poor gross enrolment ratio in higher education. IIIT in Berhampur will help in building a knowledge cluster in the heart of the most underdeveloped pocket of India. Fourth, a Software Technology park has already come up in Berhampur city and the IIIT’s establishment there will ensure synergy and investment in the IT and ITES sectors. Finally, Berhampur is the second biggest urban cluster in the state of Orissa with sound communication infrastructure and the establishment of the IIIT will be a great advantage for the city and its future development.

Berhampur is the only major city in Odisha which doesn’t have a centrally funded higher/technical education institution so far. While prestigious professional education institutions like IIT, AIIMS, IIPH, IIFT, NISER, NIT, VSSUT, IIMC, National Steel Institute, CIPET, IIHT, Law University apart from a host of Private Universities have come up across the state in recent years the entire region of South Odisha and its principal city, Berhampur, have been completely left out and remain far behind as far as higher and technical education infrastructure is concerned.

Sir, Berhampur city is considered as the gateway to the vast region of South Odisha and KBK. Owing to its strategic location, prospects of industrial investment, human resource potential, moderate weather conditions and its connectivity with all the major cities of the state and India, Berhampur can attract IT companies and create large number of employment opportunities in this underdeveloped region with the establishment of a IIIT in the city. In view of the potential of Berhampur city in bringing prosperity and in improving the life quality of the people of this backward region, it is crucial for the State government to expand the IT education base in Odisha by adhering to the principle of distributive justice. Prompt and timely action on the part of the state government will be extremely important for realization of this prestigious institution. The IIIT will not only place Berhampur city as the second knowledge hub of the state but will also work as an impetus for industrialization and development of southern Odisha and improve the overall prosperity of the State.

With Regards,

RP Tripathy