Vedanta holds talks with varsity opponents

Puri , (visakeo): Officials of the proposed Vedanta university Thursday held discussions with the Vedanta Virodhi Manch, the organisation that has been opposing the university project on various grounds.
The joint meeting, organised by the district administration, was chaired by revenue divisional commissioner (RDC) SN Sarangi.
Vice-president of the varsity project Ajit Kumar Samal announced that Vedanta would provide employment to all graduates of the area by the end of 2009 and run public schools to educate the students living in the villages coming under the project area.
Besides, it would operate door-to-door medical service for humans and for the livestocks in the area, he said.
Samal said job cards would be issued to all landless farmers who make out their livelihood by cultivating other's land. This apart, scholarships would be granted to the meritorious students with special care to the girl students, he added.
A number of schools and colleges would be established for capacity building of the students of the area and all primary schools would have the mid-day meal service, Samal said.
He further elaborated about various benefits those would be doled out to the affected populace and appealed them to co-operate with the execution of the project.
Leaders of Vedanta Virodhi Manch who participated in the meeting put several questions to Samal and replied that they would discuss all the proposals with the villagers before taking any decision over the offer.
A special survey of the temple land measuring over a thousand acres under the acquisition process for the project would be conducted within 10 days to ascertain the status, Sarangi instructed the revenue officers present in the meeting.
About 60 village leaders of Vedanta Virodhi Manch led by its president Benudhar Pradhan participated in the meeting.

 

District magistrate RR Pattnaik, Superintendent of Police Asit Kumar Panigrahi participated in the meeting.
The District Rehabilitation and Periphery Development Advisory Committee meeting would be held on March 4 to settle the outlines and modalities for rehabilitation of the villagers likely to be displaced from their villages coming under the project area, the RDC announced.          
 

Puri police gear up to detect Maoists

Puri (visakeo): The Puri police have geared up to detect any Maoist cadre infiltrating into the pilgrim and tourist city in the wake of Nayagarh incident. According to Superintendent of Police Asit Kumar Panigrahi, plain cloth policemen were deployed at strategic points to scan the suspicious persons entering into the city under the garb of pilgrim or tourists.
Recently, the sleuths rounded up three persons from the main entrance of the Sri Jagannath temple and booked them under Section 110 of the IPC and sent to the jail custody. Special contingents of police are engaged in patrolling in and around the city and the police stations in the periphery and were alerted to keep vigil on the strangers taking shelter in their areas.
The police strength was beefed up in the reserve police lines and in the police magazine besides in all the police stations to avert any eventuality. The police was keeping a close vigil on the movement of boats in Chilika Lake which borders Ganjam district with forest cover to fish out the suspected persons, the SP said.
This apart a drive is on to book the professional criminals. Recently, the administration has booked four anti-socials under the National Security Act. They were Ajay Bhoi, Madhab Dalei, Kalu and Bijay Swain.
"Measures were being taken to reign in the large scale misuse of loudspeakers and use of fire crackers in the dead of the night. The band party owners and the musical party operators were warned not to conduct any procession beyond the prescribed time limit of 10 pm," the SP informed. Besides these efforts were on to arrest the warrantees and curb the anti-socials making tourists their prey, he added.

Orissa neglected in Rly Budget,say BJD, BJP MPs

Bhubaneswar (visakeo): While the BJP Yuva Morcha vehemently opposed the Railway Budget by organising rail-roko throughout the State for more than eight hours on Wednesday, BJD-BJP MPs staged a dharna in front of the Mahatma Gandhi statue in the premises of Parliament.
The MPs alleged that while the Railways earned huge revenue from the State, it could not even spend one fourth of it for the growth of Railways in the State. The State contributes nearly Rs 6,000 crore to the Railways as revenue per annum. The Railway Authority earned the revenue mostly from transportation of coals and minerals.
In the Budget, the Railways even neglected the cause of the industrialisation process of Orissa. Most of the industrialised places have not come under the network. The most important rail connectivity from Kirtania to Dhamra has not been taken up. All the ongoing projects have only received a meagre amount for their completion.
During the agitation, the MPs raised slogans against the UPA Government and Union Railway Minister Lalu Prasad in particular, for their stepmotherly attitude towards the cause of Orissa.
"We will continue to oppose the Railway Budget," said BJD MP Braja Kishore Tripathy, adding that the agitation against the UPA Government would be further intensified. While the State Government had demanded Rs 1,330 crore, only Rs 972 crore was earmarked for the development of rail network in the State.
BJD MP Pyari Mohan Mohapatra said Orissa had been neglected by the UPA Government. "While the State requires fund for the growth of rail network in the State, it has only received half of it," Mohapatra said.
BJP MP Rudra Naryan Pani said while other States receive nearly Rs 1,900 crore, Orissa has not even got half of it. Among others who were present during the agitation included Arjun Sethi, Brahmananda Panda, Prasanna Acharya, Kharabela Swain, Sangita Singh Deo, Dharmendra Pradhan, Pramila Bohidar, Bhartuhari Mahatab and Prasanna Patsani

Catch a thief, win reward

Bhubaneswar (visakeo): Rattled over the increasing criminal activities in the State, the police are now seeking public cooperation to keep the spiraling crime rate under check and community policing is the new mantra for the State's cops. As part of the initiative the police on Tuesday recognised the efforts of six youth of a village who's daredevilry helped the cops in getting hold of some armed miscreants who had looted a bank's transit van and looted Rs 8 lakh at gunpoint. The youths had chased the armed miscreants and nabbed them.
The police force is saddled with maintaining law and order, providing security to VIPs and VVIPs, crime detection along with routine policing. Without adequate infrastructure and skeletal personnel it has become nearly impossible for the police to keep a check on the dreaded criminals and their nefarious activities. No one knows this better than Director General of Police Gopal Chandra Nanda. "Without public support, it's extremely thorny for the police to check the crime rate," said Nanda.
The number of policemen might be inadequate. But with community policing with the public cooperation it acts as a force multiplier. With information flowing from the public it becomes easier to keep a tab on the criminals and their activities. The awards for the youth might be negligible on monetary grounds but it would act as a moral booster for those who want to help the police, said a senior police officer.
Puri SP Asit Panigrahi on Tuesday felicitated the six youth of Bhiligram in Konark who had captured the bank dacoits on December 3, 2007. They were presented with bravery awards. The police awarded a sum of Rs 1,000 each to two youth while the other four were given a cash award of Rs 500 each. Panigrahi hoped that

VHP threatens fresh agitation over Ram Setu issue

Bhubaneswar: (28/2)In the wake of the Cabinet Committee on Political Affair's approval to a new affidavit on Ram Setu, Viswa Hindu Parishad on Thursday threatened for a fresh State wide agitation in the State. As the Centre is seeking to lift the stay on the construction of the controversial project off the Tamil Nadu coastline, we have decided to again take to street over the issue, VHP State secretary Gouri Prasad Rath said. "We will wait till March 5, as the new affidavit will be filed in Supreme Court on the same day. If our concerns were not taken up, VHP would further step up its agitation," Rath said. He also stressed on the need to build the Ram temple at the same place in Ayodhya and said the VHP will not allow any shift from the original site to any other place. After the Navy chief, the Director-General of Coast Guards had expressed serious reservation on the viability of the controversial Sethusamudram project but the Centre is yet to take up the concern and more worry for DMK's political vendetta, Rath said. As, experts of different fields have already expressed concerns over the project, the government should file an affidavit immediately before the Supreme Court to save Ram Sethu," he said. Pointing out that the Navy chief and Coast Guard chief are the two final authorities, entrusted with the task of national security, Rath said the Government should scrap the project to ensure safety and security of the region and save the taxpayers' money.

No 'Garib Rath' for Orissa

Bhubaneswar(visakeo)The Union Ministry of Railway has allocated Rs 972.34 crore for the development of Railways in Orissa in its Budget though the State Government had demanded Rs 1,330 crore.The funds will be used for construction of new lines, gauge conversion, doubling and electrification during 2008-09. Though Railway Minister Lalu Prasad proposed introduce 10 Garib Raths, no Garib Rath was introduced for Orissa. "Where is the Garib Rath," asked Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik in his reaction.However, the Railway Ministry has introduced new four trains for the State. The new trains are Bhubaneshwar-Mumbai Express (bi-weekly) via Sambalpur, Puri-Darbhanga Weekly Express, Paradip-Bhubaneswar Express (daily) and Keonjhar -Puri Express (daily). Though the State Government demanded an increase in frequency of six trains, the Railway Ministry has agreed to increase the frequency of only two trains. The two trains are Rajdhani Express (2421/2422) from two days to three days and Baripada-Bhubaneswar (three days to six days). Railway Authority will take up survey works for Junagarha- Ambuguda, Khurda road- Raj Athgarh, Kanatabanjhi-Rajkhariar, Ambapani- Nawarangpur- Jeypore and Banspani- Barbil.In the Railway Budget, Rs 242.43 crore has been allocated for the completion of the ongoing projects. But this amount is not enough to complete the projects. No emphasis has been given to expedite the rail projects in the industrial belt. Rs 20 crore has been allotted for Daitari-Bansapni, Rs 35 crore for Lanjigarh Road- Junagarh, Rs 32.43 crore for Khurda Road- Balangir, Rs 80 crore for Haridaspur-Paradip, Rs 60 crore for Angul- Duburi- Sukinda Road, Rs 10 crore for Talcher- Bimlagarh and Rs 5 crore for the Koraput- Rayagada project. Rs 40 crore has been allotted for Rupsa- Bnagriposi rail gauge conversion and Rs 10.41 crore for Nuapada -Gunpur.In the Railway Budget, more funds have been allotted for doubling of line. While the Orissa Government demanded Rs 500 crore for these works, Rs 641.10 crore has been allotted for doubling of line. State Commerce and Transport Minister Jaynaryan Mishra said the Union Rail Ministry had enhanced the allocation in order to meet its own interest and not Orissa's interest.

Rs 641.10 crore has been allotted for 18 doubling projects for 2008-09 as against Rs 449.51 crore for 2007-08. Rs 38.30 crore has been allocated to take up electrification works.

For the year 2008-09, two new doublings namely Banspani- Joruli, Jharsuguda- Champa 3rd line have been sanctioned. Earlier, the State Government had requested Ministry of Railways to sanction nine new rail links, doubling of three new rail links and electrification of four new rail links.

Book throws new light on freedom fighters of Orissa

BHUBANESWAR:(visakeo) Governor Murlidhar Chandrakant Bhandare on Monday released the book "Gandhi, Freedom Struggle and Swarajya Ashram" penned by eminent researcher and writer Dr Pabak Kanungo.The first copy of the book in Oriya was presented to veteran freedom fighter Annapurna Maharana at a simple ceremony at Raj Bhawan. The book throws new light on the way 'Satyagrahis' of the State could awaken the dormant spirit of the people and shake off their inferiority complex to stand up in defence of their dignity and status as free men. Quoting profusely from the writings and speeches of the heroes of freedom struggle, the book captures events in different phases of the freedom struggle. It also elaborately deals with the intimate contact of Mahatma Gandhi with Orissa.
It also takes a long look at the role played by the historic 'Swarajya Ashram' at Cuttack in the freedom struggle and its gradual disappearance from public perception to an utterly dilapidated structure. The book also contains several rare photographs dating back to 1921, 1925, 1930 and 1931. On the occasion, Bhandare empahsised on renovation and preservation of places in Orissa where Gandhiji visited or stayed so that the younger generation can relate them with fight for Independence and the State's contribution to it.
Culture Minister S.N. Patro, Secretary Gopinath Mohanty and former professor of Utkal University Dr. S. Rath were present.

Shraddhanjali for martyrs of Maoist attack held

Bhubaneswar(Visakeo)Hundreds of activists of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) on Tuesday held a Sraddhanjali programme for the cops who fell prey to the Maoists' bullets in Nayagarh at the Nehru Park near Master Canteen Square here.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Amitabh Thakur paid floral tributes to the martyred security personnel. Among others, ABVP east zone organising secretary Bishnu Dash, city secretary Bhabani Shankar Mohapatra and programme convener Tatwadarshi Das attended the programme. Other than students, many police personnel and intellectuals paid their respects to the martyrs.

"Because we could not get the photographs of the police personnel who were killed by the Maoists, except that of Assistant Commandant of Special Operation Group (SOG) Pramod Satpathy, we managed the programme with a single photograph decked with flowers. We are trying to collect the photographs of all other police personnel, and in future will organise a mass Shraddhanjali programme," said ABVP city secretary Bhabani Shankar Mohapatra.

India test-fires undersea missile

BALASORE: (visakeo)-India on Tuesday test-fired its first-ever undersea nuclear-capable ballistic missile off the eastern coastal city of Visakhapatnam, catapulting it to the select band of five countries - Russia, the US, France, Britain and China - equipped with the technology.The missile, K-15, with a range of 700 km, was test-fired from a 'Pontoon' immersed in the sea at 12.58 pm.The DRDO awaited the final evaluation from warships in the sea. This was the first full-fledged test of the missile, of which defence scientists had earlier carried out two dry runs.The test was undertaken from a submerged 'Pontoon' as India does not have a submarine capable to undertake firing of such missiles. It would need just one test to ratify the missile which would form the main armament of the country's indigenously- made nuclear submarine which is expected to enter sea trials late next year.

Earlier, the country also had joined the elite club of nations in air defence system along with the US, Russia and Israel after successfully testing its two versions of antiballistic missiles. 'Pontoon was positioned inside the sea, about 8 km from Visakhapatnam coastline and the missile was fired from 50 m deep,' said a source at the Integrated Test Range (ITR) at Chandipur-on-Sea. The 700 km range missile, formerly known as Sagarika, was test fired twice but had reported 'partial' success as trajectory deviation was noticed during its flight. 'But Tuesday's test was a success as a rectified version was tested,' the source said, adding that the final evaluations from the warships stationed in the sea are awaited.Developed by DRDO, K-15 is about 8.5 metres long with one metre diameter. Its launch weight is about 7 tonnes.

RSS chief pitches for Hindus to restore peace in world

Berhampur(visakeo)Addressing a huge gathering of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh workers from across the State at the Khalikote College ground here on Sunday on occasion of the RSS' regional convention, RSS chief KS Sudarsan said only Hindus can restore peace in the world.

Other communities have tried to propagate their own religion aggressively and have waged a war in order to conquer other countries with a view to dominate. Whereas, the Hindus never tried to do so, instead they had been trying to win hearts of the people across the world.

Sudarsan spoke at length focusing on religious issues. He said that there was a phase in the past when Hindus felt shy to reveal their identities. But, nowadays people feel proud to express their belongingness to such a religion.

He also claimed that some of the demonic forces were trying to dominate the Hindu society and were trying to introduce a competitive ideology in the Indian society that would ultimately lead to confrontations among each other. Every body would feel unsafe at the presence of another powerful force resulting in a violent society, which is being witnessed in western countries.

While speaking on the propagation of Christianity, he stated that the Last Teaching of Jesus propagates to dominate the other race by preaching their religion. In view of this, Ishah had preached violence and asked the people of his race to create colonialism.

On the other hand, the Hindu preachers including Swami Vivekananda had tried to woo people instead of trying to dominate them of other religions. Hindu's are a race and not a religion as they were identified with a region located along the Sindhu river.

Subsequently, the foreigners began to call the people of this region as Hindus. And the people living in this region were peace loving and never tried to occupy any region unlike the Muslim invaders.

In such a situation, when the Hindu race had been facing challenges and attacks, they had to be united and to be powerful enough to defend their society. They should be prepared to face the demonic forces working against the Hindu society, Sudarsan appealed. He sighted the example of the attempt to destroy the Ram Sethu.

He also spoke on the recent Kandhamal violence stating that politicians were only concerned about the vote banks and trying to divide the society in the name of religion and reservations.

The Panas were originally belonged to Scheduled Castes (SC) and lost their privilege of reservations after conversation.

They were trying to get the status of Scheduled Tribes (ST) because even after one converts to another religion, he would get the benefit of reservations. In such a situation, when Swami Laxamananda Saraswati tried to prevent Hindus from conversion angry Christians attempted to kill him that led to the eruption of violence resulting in burning of the temples, whereas the Christians alleged that their churches were gutted, he added.

Special package for Kandhamal

Bhubaneswa(visakeo): To win back the confidence and faith of the residents of riot hit Kandhamal, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Monday announced a special package for the residents. A decision to this effect was taken at a high-level meeting chaired by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik at the State Secretariat.

As per the decision, Government would set up a B Ed College in Phulbani, the district headquarters of Kandhamal. Youth of the district will be imparted training in the college.

In order to boost horticulture, Patnaik also announced the setting up a training centre for horticulture. The training centre would encourage horticulture in the district. A nursery would also be set up in the district. Employment generated programme would also be taken up in this backward district. "A Technical Training Institute would also be set up in the district," Patnaik said, adding that with the help of the State Employment Mission, training programmes would be implemented for enhancing the skill of the unemployed youth of the district.

Meanwhile in a major breakthrough, the Balangir police arrested Haibar Nayak, the alleged mastermind behind the violence that erupted in Kandhamal on December 25 in which three people killed and 800 houses gutted. He belongs to Barkhamar of Baliguda Police Station of Kandhamal district. However, Nayak has denied all the allegations levelled against him.

RSS chief: Church behind Kandhamal violence

ANGUL:(visakeo)- RSS Sar Sangh Chalak K.S.Sudarshan on Thursday blamed the church for the recent Kandhamal communal flare-up. He was addressing swayam sevaks here after inspecting various martial arts performed by them.

Calling upon the people to awaken and unite to counter the challenge of multiple threats to the country, he said 'don't wait for others to act for you'. He said threats like Maoist violence, Islamic jihad and conversations by Christian missionaries are looming large over India.

Sudarshan regretted that while any insult to other religions sparked off protests worldwide, the same is not happening in case of attack and insult on Hinduism. He said one of the achievements of the Sangh since it was formed in 1925 was that it helped Hindus to say themselves as Hindus without any fear.

''Maoists know only to destroy,'' he said questioning what development activities they did in their liberated areas in the country. USSR, which embraced Communism, collapsed and also China, where Maoism prospered, is also meeting the same fate, he observed.

Opposing the plan to destruct Ram Setu, Sudarshan said expert committee formed on the Sethu Samundram project opined against demolition of the setu as it would be catastrophic to coastal areas in the wake of Tsunami.

The Sethu Samundram project would not benefit the national economy rather it would create a burden of Rs 1000 crore per annum to clear the debris. The demolition of setu, he said, was not in the interest of India but it would further the interest of America, he claimed.

Asst Commandant Pramod's family to get Rs 15 lakh

Bhubaneswar (visakeo)The State Government on Thursday announced a compassionate grant of Rs 5 lakh for Assistant Commandant of Special Operation Group (SOG) Pramod Kumar Satpathy, who made the supreme sacrifice during the combing operation against the Maoists in Gasama jungle.
Making a statement during an adjournment motion on law and order in the House, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik announced that a compassionate grant of Rs 4 lakh each had also been sanctioned for the families of the other police personnel killed during the operation.

In addition, insurance coverage of Rs 10 lakh would be given for each deceased police personnel. "The State Government would also provide appointment to the next of kin of each deceased police personnel," he said. Sources said Pramod's family would receive a total compensation of Rs 15 lakh including that of insurance coverage.
Constable Sushanta Gouda and Sepoy SN Panda were also killed during the anti-Maoist combing operation.
In order to intensify its combing operation, the State Government for the first time has engaged forest officials in the operation. They would guide forces to find out the routes in the dense forest of Kandhamal and Gajapati. Sniffer dog squads, which were pressed into operation to detect landmines and find the bodies of the militants, have so far detected 20 landmines and found some blood soaked fatigues.
Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik said in the Assembly on Thursday that combing operations were on and forces had been pressed into operation. "The number of Maoist related incidents is much less compared to the neighbouring Maoist affected States like Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Andhra Pradesh and Bihar," he said.
"Police forces are at this very moment engaged in a battle of life and death in the jungles with the Maoists. We should rise above other considerations and respect the efforts of the gallant men," he said. The security forces have recovered 40 per cent of the looted weapons and 70 per cent of the ammunition, Patnaik added.
Giving a reply to the adjournment motion, Patnaik said "Extremism had started many decades ago as an ideology for the poor. It has now been overtaken by terrorism, mafia behaviour and its leaders and cadre have been indulging in heinous acts of extortions, drug trade, murder and rape."
With the adjournment motion being accepted for discussion, the stalemate over the House on the Maoist issue came to an end and normalcy was restored. Coming down heavily upon deputy leader of Opposition Narasingh Mishra's remarks that Maoist activities have increased due to increase in poverty, Patnaik said it was during the regime of the Congress that people were languishing in poverty as the growth rate was between 3.2 per cent to 5.2 per cent. "However, during the 10th Plan, it has climbed to 7.2 per cent," he said, adding that the State had overtaken the per capita annual NSDP growth rate of the country.
Throwing the ball into the Opposition's court, Patnaik said the Opposition should appeal to the Centre to reduce the BPL families by 10 lakh. He further said that special steps had been taken to address the land-related issues of tribal people. "As many as 9,098 forest cases involving minor offences and 2,938 criminal cases against the tribal have been dropped," he said. However, the Opposition alleged that the Government had totally failed in curbing the Maoist menace in the State.

Former IPS officers term NHRC act on aerial attack as 'illegitimate'

Bhubaneswar:(visakeo)- Former IPS officer having knowledge on counter-insurgency operations, on Thursday termed the restriction imposed by the National Human Rights Commission on aerial strike on the outlawed leftwing guerrillas by the security forces as 'illegitimate' and  'discouraging'. Former Assam cadre Oriya IPS officer Ashok Sahu, argued  that aerial attack was the need of the hour as the rebels' are being hiding in dense forest after spreading mayhem in Nayagarh. "I think, the Commission has no legitimate right to intervene into the combing operations being carried out by the Orissa Government," he said. He further added that the Commission should also take the case of killed police men in Nayagarh mayhem. He further said that the fleeing Maoists' may be heading towards either Andhra Pradesh or Chhattisgarh in the wake of massive crack down. Sahu further added that security forces should search in nearby villages and peripheral areas. "Immediate use of aerial bombing by helicopters on Maoists escaping through the jungles after the Nayagarh attack could have led to a death blow on the extremists," he added. He further alleged that Churches in these five southern districts have been patronising the leftwing guerrillas and providing shelter for them.Criticising Union Home Ministry, Sahu demanded special assistance to Orissa on matters of security related expenditure.  He further said that the reports indicating Maoists presence in several forest areas of Kandhamal, has proved enough about the role of the Churches. The Centre's double policy of development and police action to deal with Maoists appears to be ineffective, as funds marked for developmental projects are being extorted by Maoists themselves, he added.

Combing operation continues for fifth consecutive day

Bhubaneswar (visakeo)More than 1,500 security personnel on Wednesday continued their combing operation in the forests of five southern districts of the State to nab Maoists for the fifth consecutive day, who had raided several police posts and escaped with a large haul of weapons after killing 15 people last Friday in Nayagarh.
Security personnel of the Orissa Armed Police, Central Reserve Police Force, Special Operations Group and Greyhound squads, sniffer dogs'squad backed by Air Force choppers have been combing the forests spread over five districts after failing to locate them in Gosma forests, police sources said.
Security forces on Wednesday further adopted a new strategy of guerilla warfare in the hunt for Maoists in the dense forests, where additional paramilitary personnel have joined the long haul operation. Fresh reinforcements of 500 CRPF men have joined the combing team, which was rushed by the Centre. Besides, using IAF choppers to spot the militants inside the jungle, the security forces deployed a large number of trained dogs, IG (Operations) SS Hansdah told The Pioneer over phone from the operation site. "We are concentrating only on possible locations of the rebels," IG Hansdah added.
The change of strategy to nab the militants was believed to have been influenced by the death of three prominent members of the SOG, including assistant commandant Pramod Kumar Satpathy during the combing operation.
Meanwhile, there was a rumour that over 42 bodies of the extremists were recovered from the Gosama forest where the encounter took place on Saturday. However, there was no official confirmation fearing several problems on grounds of human rights violation. While Kandhamal Superintendent of Police Nikhil Kanodia was leading a group in Daringibadi area, Southern Range DIG RP Koche was heading another group. Sources said the combing operation was likely to continue for a long period. The police, however, had not sighted any extremist since Saturday.
"Instead of chasing the militants in jungles, the force will now wait for the enemies to surface as per the new strategy," an officer involved in the operation said. "We do not want to sacrifice more personnel by directly confronting the militants and raiding their hideouts.
The enemies were obviously in an advantageous position inside the forests. They knew the routes and were well acquainted with the terrain," he said. The officer said moonlight had helped the militants to slip from their hideouts in Gosmah forest which was encircled by the security personnel. "It was easy for the militants to escape taking advantage of their knowledge of forest routes", the officer said.

Police command and control system failed in Nayagarh

Bhubaneswar (visakeo)-Maoists attacked different police institutions in Nayagarh district late night on February 15, killed 14 police personnel and looted the armoury before melting into the darkness of night. Similar Maoist attacks had taken place at the State's far-off southern places of Koraput and R Udayagiri during the last four years. Nayagarh is probably different from others in the extent of cruelty with which the brave police personnel were butchered and the amount of arms and ammunition looted.
The modus operandi of the attackers has been quite similar on the earlier two occasions. Then too, the attackers overwhelmed the defenders with their sheer numbers. The family members of the dead police personnel would definitely be interested to know what, if any, lesson has been learnt and whether any action was taken to prevent recurrence of the events. There are talks now of fortifying the police stations with better building designs, walls with barbed wire fences and such things.
When determined attackers in Kashmir, UP and other States are able to penetrate the fortifications of the Army and CRPF camps, how much the latest moves in Orissa would help keep the determined Red attackers at bay is a moot point. Taking a senior police official hostage or ramming a vehicle through the walls will not be beyond the capabilities of committed cadres that the Maoists claim to have.
Better weapons for the police would, perhaps, not achieve much beyond boosting the morale of the police force. In fact, in remote areas, this move has the potential of being taken advantage by the Maoists and use for their own benefit, as has been demonstrated at places like Koraput, R Udayagiri and Nayagarh.
As per available reports, two conclusions about the Nayagarh tragedy can be easily drawn. One is the failure of the police intelligence and the second is the failure of the command and control system to react to an emergency of this type. These also were the conclusions in the Koraput and R Udayagiri incidents. No amount of fortification can prevent such incidents unless the element of the Maoists' surprise attack is blunted with effective intelligence.
Hundreds of people mounting an attack on a town need a lot of planning, elaborate arrangement of logistics and coordination till the last minute. It is impossible that some members of public did not notice anything, particularly when so many people either travelled hundreds of kilometers with arms and ammunitions or trickled in and hid nearby for a few days. But if anybody noticed any thing unusual, they obviously chose not to bother.
The second and, the more important, issue is the apparent failure of the command and control system of the police to react to such a situation. No available report suggests any collapse of the telecom network in the public domain in Nayagarh that fateful night. When members of the public and the media in Bhubaneswar were aware of something terrible going on in Nayagarh, it was impossible that the police top brass were unaware of it.
If they did know, then they owe an explanation to their own people as to what action they initiated. If they did not, then that in itself is a major problem because action on that information perhaps could have saved some other police stations which the attackers targeted on their way out of Nayagarh. They could also have used the knowledge to delay the escape of the attackers by creating obstructions on the roads.
Nayagarh is less than two hours away from Bhubaneswar, and creating obstacles on the path of escape of the attackers along with reinforcements from the State headquarters could have resulted in an effective retaliatory action. The real story will come out some day, but as of now it appears that the decision makers simply never knew what hit them.
The fear of consequence of action deters criminals from implementing their plans. The ease with which the Maoists have carried out their plans at place after place in the State over the last few years would have definitely emboldened them and pushed their morale sky high.
So, Orissa can expect more of these attacks in coming years and that would hardly boost the morale of inhabitants and investors alike. The claim of killing hundreds of Maoists in encounters is fine but more is necessary to boost the confidence of the common man.

UBSS to observe Silver Jubilee today

Bhubaneswar: (visakeo)The RSS backed Utkal Biparana Sahayata Samiti will observe its Silver Jubilee Function here at Mancheswar Industrial Area on Saturday. National Joint General Secretary of RSS Suresh Rao Joshi( Bhaiyaji) will join as the Chief Speaker of the Silver Jubilee Function while State Fisheries and Animal Husbandry Secretary, Hrushikesh Panda( IAS) will attend the function as Chief Guest. UBSS State president Prasant Ballav Ray will preside the meeting, UBSS organising secretary Saroj Kumar Kar said on Friday. On this occasion, several noted persons will receive awards for their remarkable contribution in various fields. Pratap Rudra Beurai of Kulailo village of Athagarh, Manoranjan Das of Kalupadaghat, Khurda and BK Rout of Bhabanipatana, Kalahandi will receive the award for public service. Similarly, Maheswar Jena, of Patana, Jajpur and Kailash Pradhan of Tangana, Bhanjnagar, Ganjam will receive the award for social service. Meanwhile, the Silver Jubilee Function will be followed by a cultural programme. As many 31 inmates of the two Orphanage run by the UBSS at Rayagada and Parlakhemundi will perform various cultural shows. Students of Balmiki Sikhya Kendra run by the UBSS will also perform on this occasion. Besides, Yoga students of UBSS will also perform on various forms of Yoga.

Give protection to divorced Hindu women, demands Samiti

Bhubaneswar:(visakeo) Orissa unit of Rashtra Sevika Samiti on Tuesday strongly criticized the State Government's move to provide special protection to divorce Muslim women and monthly pension. The Samiti terming the decision as unconstitutional also demanded same facilities for the divorce Hindu women. Samiti State coordinator Lalita Padhi said the decision of the Government was a step forward for Muslim appeasement policy. "If special protection and monthly pension for Muslim women, why the Government silent on Hindu women," she asked. She also criticised the Sachar Committee and Justice Ranganath Mishra committee reports and recent move of the Andhra Pradesh Governmnet to provide subsidies to Christians.

Police hot on Maoists' trail

Bhubaneswar:(visakeo) Director General of Police (DGP) Gopal Chandra Nanda on Monday claimed that the outlawed leftwing rebels were on the defensive, after the marathon encounter that began on Saturday night in the bordering areas of the southern districts of Ganjam and Kandhamal.The DGP, who briefed Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik here at the State Secretariat, said security forces had recovered a huge cache of arms and ammunition looted from the Nayagarh District Armoury and Police Training School during the ongoing combing operations.

"We have recovered 115 303 rifles, one carbine and half a truckload of ammunition," DGP Nanda, said. He also confirmed that the casualty on the Maoists side was more than 20, but failed to give an exact number. "We are not searching for the bodies. We are concentrating on the combing operations," he said. He added that the villagers were informing them about the bodies from time to time. As many as 1,100 weapons of different makes and around two lakh live bullets had been looted by hundreds of armed Maoists from Nayagarh district on Friday night. The Maoists were virtually trapped inside the forest with all the escape routes being sealed by the police. The militants were left with only two options, either be killed or captured, the DGP further said.

Meanwhile, combing operations continued for the third consecutive day on Monday against hundreds of armed Maoists in several parts of the State following the Nayagarh mayhem on Friday. The operation, one of the biggest in the history of encounters against the leftwing guerrillas, began after information was received that the militants had moved to the borders of Ganjam and Kandhamal district and were hiding on a hilltop in a bid to escape to the neighbouring State. Senior police officials supervising the combing operation, however, maintained that the casualty from the Maoists side would rise as a number of them were seriously injured during the encounter at the Gasama hill bordering Ganjam and Phulbani district during the last three days.

A fierce encounter was going on in at least four places as the heavily armed Maoists were divided into various small groups and moving into the interior villages inside the dense forest in a bid to flee from the State. Hundreds of security personnel were pursuing the Maoists in the forests near Gasama hill in Ganjam district where the rebels have taken shelter, Additional DGP MM Praharaj said. Praharaj, who is leading the operation, said several rounds of gun battles were going on with the rebels since Saturday. He said the fleeing Maoists had split into groups. "So we are chasing them from all sides." The people living in the forest informed that they had seen about 20 bodies of the Maoists in their localities but we believe it could be much more," he said.

Reports reaching here said the Maoists, in the face of a heavy encounter, had dispersed from the Gasama forest where they were hiding and moved to nearby forest and interior villages on foot. As many as two companies of Greyhound police from Andhra Pradesh, four companies of CRPF, three companies of the Special Operation Group and over 30 battalions of the OSAP, besides police force drawn from four southern Orissa districts.

Villagers help anti-Maoist operations in jungles

Bhubaneswar(visakeo)While the Superintendents of Police of Berhampur, Ganjam and Kandhamal are engaged in combat operations against the Maoists, the Collectors are not left behind. This time, villagers are also keeping a vigil on the movement of the extremists, thanks to the initiatives of the Collectors of Ganjam and Kandhamal, V Karthikeyan Pandian and Manish Kumar Verma, respectively.

According to sources, while Pandian is camping near Gelari on the border of Ganjam, Verma is also moving in the routes covered by the Maoists in the Tikabali and Chakapad areas. While the SOG, Grey Hound and CRPF commandos are engaged in fierce fights with the powerfully armed Maoists, the Collectors are taking the help of the common men as vigilant citizens.

All the routes leading to the jungles of Gasama, where the Maoists are hiding, are being covered by people connected with mobile telephones. The movement of the Maoists are being watched and reported back to the authorities, said a source.

This is a new method of collecting information, as the mobiles are providing the scope for connectivity in these far-flung areas, said a senior officer.

Villagers are angry with the Maoists because they killed innocent persons in the bordering Nayagarh district. They are out to support the district administration and the police authorities in their anti-Maoist operations. According to the sources, vital information is percolating, which is beneficial to the combat forces.

The SOG, Grey Hound and CRPF commandos are combing the jungles from three sides. The commandos are approaching from Gelari and Soroda side of Ganjam district, while another lot is approaching from Tikabali in Kandhamal district.

Home Secretary TK Mishra on Sunday said 20 Maoists and three SOG personnel were killed, though Intelligence sources say the casualty figure of the Maoists is more than 26. However, the bodies of the Maoists are vanishing as soon as they are killed, because the Maoists are not allowing their dead comrades to be identified by the police and parade the bodies.

Villagers inside the forests say the Maoists are facing difficult times due to attacks on all the sides of the jungle. While Director, Intelligence MM Praharaj and SOG chief are masterminding the entire operations, IG Operations SS Hansda is coordinating the exercise.

DIG Southern Range RP Koche, Ganjam SP S Dev Dutt Singh, Berhampur SP Nitinjit Singh and Kandhamal SP Nikhil Kumar Kanodia are in the forefront of the operations.

Apart from guiding the entire operations, DGP GC Nanda is busy preparing an Integrated Security Plan for the Maoist-prone areas, which has received the green signal from Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik.

Naxal-police encounter continues in Orissa

Bhubaneswar(visakeo)-The encounter between the police and Naxalites near Galeri on the Nayagarh-Kandhamal border in Orissa has entered into the second day.

Over 18 hours after the first exchange, there have been many casualties on both sides but the figures are not yet known. According to some unofficial sources, over 10 Naxalites may have been killed and three policemen are missing. However, police have not said anything yet.

The encounter took place after the police blocked all escape routes for the Naxalites who were fleeing after raiding two armories in Nayagarh on Friday night, in which fifteen people including 13 police personnel were killed. The Maoists are trapped inside the jungle and the special operation group and CRPF have encircled the jungle and blocked all escape routes.

Naxal attack: Orissa police blame govt

Bhubaneswar(visakeo)-Blaming the state government for the recent Naxal attacks, Orissa police associations have demanded adequate fortification of police stations and armouries in the state.

They have also asked the state government to declare the entire state as Naxal-prone.

Earlier, Orissa Home secretary Tarun Mishra said that 20 Maoists and three policemen have died in the exchange of fire between the two sides.

The firing between Maoist guerillas, police and paramilitary forces in Orissa has been on since Saturday night near Galeri in the Nayagarh-Kandhmal corder.

However, the bodies of the Naxalites have not been recovered.

The battle comes after at least 500 Maoists in plain clothes stormed two armouries in Nayagarh on Friday night.

Not only did they kill 15 people, including 13 police personnel, they also made off with huge quantities of arms and ammunition including AK-47 machine guns and INSAS automatic rifles, which is the standard weapon of soldiers in the Indian Army.

The CRPF, state police and members of the Special Operations Group are trying to encircle the forested area, where the Naxals are operating.

Twenty Maoists killed in Orissa

Bhubaneswar(visakeo)-Twenty Maoists were gunned down during the combing operation by security forces in border area of Nayagarh-Ganjam-Kandhamal districts of Orissa on Sunday.

Three jawans of the Special Operation Group (SOG) were also killed in the operation being conducted since Saturday after the Maoist attack on police establishments in Nayagarh on Friday night, state Home Secretary T K Mishra told reporters here.

Some women Maoists were also among the 20 ultras killed in the exchange of fire.

Justice on Trial seeks extension of CRPF stay in Kandhamal

Bhubaneswar: (visakeo)-Justice on Trial, a Gujarat-based organisation, on Thursday urged both Central and State Governments to extend the CRPF deployment in the riot-hit areas of Kandhamal till total normalcy is restored.
The organisation, which released a report of its fact-finding team under the chairmanship of Additional Advocate General of Rajasthan Guru Charan Singh Gill over the recent violence in Kandhamal, however, termed the incident as a caste conflict and mismanagement in reservation policy lead to anger among the tribal. Former Punjab DGP PC Dogra, social activists Nafia Hussain, MK Andhare and Ram Kishor Pansari were among those in the fact-finding team.
The team after discussing the issue and visiting the affected site released the report and demanded adequate compensation for the riot affected people. "Dispute among ST and SC, dispute among Kandh, Kui and Pana were several key fact led to violence," fact finding team chairman Gill said. The Centre has agreed to Orissa Government's request to retain all the seven battalions of Central Reserve Police Force in violence-hit Kandhamal till March 15.
Demanding tough measures to regulate activities of foreign funded NGOs operating in riot-hit Kandhamal district, the organisation called for an open debate on conversion, terming it as the 'root cause' of unrest in the tribal dominated areas. "We urged the Government to probe fake caste (ST) certificates fraudulently obtained by non-tribals. I also demanded action against the people who obtained such fake certificates and got government jobs," Gill said. Former IAS officer Biswanath Rath, former IPS officer Ashok Sahoo and Prasant Rout were among those present.

Why this bias? BJP taunts Centre

BHUBANESWAR: The BJP launched a scathing attack on the Congress-led
UPA Government for its continued apathy towards the State.

Addressing the opening session of the two-day State executive
committee meeting of the BJP here on Thursday, party president Suresh
Pujari lambasted the Centre for its preferential treatment to the
State so far as sanction of Central projects or Central assistance is
concerned.

"The only solution to the Centre's apathy is to build a movement
against the UPA Government in the State," Pujari said.

The BJD-BJP combination has completed 10 years and the alliance will
continue to rule the State, Pujari asserted and exhorted party leaders
and workers to defeat the evil design of the Congress. All the
projects sanctioned by the NDA Government for the State are either
shelved or relocated to other states.

The Netaji Subash Bose All India Institute of Medical Science is
languishing for lack of financial support. While Orissa's demand for
an Indian Institute of Technology has been ignored, states having
several national institutes are being given special treatment, he
rued.

Even as the State is facing recurring floods and Central team visiting
the State to assess the flood damage realised the gravity of the
situation and financial requirement to meet the calamities, the UPA
Government has not given any special assistance to tide over the
situation.

"After promising Rs 200 crore special flood assistance to the State,
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh did not keep his word," he said.

After reducing the kerosene quota of the State, the latest in the
series is that the Centre is hell bent on deleting over 10.30 lakh BPL
families from the existing list while the number of BPL families in
progressive states are increased, he rued.

The meeting will pass its political resolution on Friday.

NMO to host two-day long National Conference from Feb 9

Bhubaneswar (4/2): National Medicos' Organisation (NMO) will hold the 24th two-day long National Conference at Cuttack from February 9 to 10. NMO is hosting the seminar for the first time in the State to discuss various issues relating to medical science. Addressing a press conference here on Monday, organising secretary Radheshayama Bhawsinka and Higher Education Minister Sameer Dey said that the conference will have scientific presentations, discussions on recent medical problems, debates on the problems faced by the professionals, poster and essay competition and quiz on medical and dental sciences and deliberation on the role of doctors in nation building. About 1500 doctors from all over the country are expected to attend the seminar, they said.

Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik will inaugurate the seminar while Governor Sri MC Bhandare will attend the concluding day. Besides, Law and
Industry Minister Biswa Bhusan Harichandan, Revenue Minister Manmohan Samal and Higher Education Minister Sameer Dey would attend the seminar as guest speakers, they added. Sanjit Panda, Sanatan Tripathy and Nagen Pradhan were among those present at the press meet

One Paragraph that explains life

Arthur Ashe, the legendary Wimbledon player was dying of AIDS which he got due to infected blood he received during a heart surgery in 1983. From world over, he received letters from his fans, one of which conveyed: "Why does GOD have to select you for such a bad disease"?

To this Arthur Ashe replied:
"The world over -- 50 million  children start playing tennis, 5 million learn to play tennis,
500,000 learn professional tennis, 50,000 come to the circuit, 5000 reach the  grand slam,
50 reach Wimbledon, 4 to semi final, 2 to the finals,
when I was holding a cup I never asked GOD 'Why me?'.
And today in pain I should not be asking GOD 'Why me?' "

"Happiness keeps you Sweet,
Trials keep you Strong,
Sorrow keeps you Human,
Failure keeps you humble and
Success keeps you glowing,
but only Faith & Attitude Keeps you going...