Woman killed in crocodile attack in Orissa

A 50-year-old woman has been killed and several others injured in crocodile attacks in and around Orissa's Bhitarkanika wildlife sanctuary, official sources said.

Two crocodiles were also killed in retaliatory attack by the locals recently.

A group of adult crocodiles pounced on 50-year-old Chanchala Digal near a creek in Trilochanpur village on Tuesday. The woman from the peripheral village of the sanctuary died on the spot.

Meanwhile, 12 from villages around the sanctuary under Rajnagar tehsil have been injured recently by crocodiles that had strayed into village water bodies.

The man-reptile conflict has so far claimed four lives this year alone, while 24 others were injured since January.

Human retaliation, on the other hand, resulted in the death of at least two giant-size crocodiles.

Pollavaram project bad, Orissa's Patnaik tells PM news

Orissa chief minister Naveen Patnaik has reiterated his strong protest against the controversial Pollavaram dam and irrigation project being constructed by neighbouring Andhra Pradesh.

Patnaik told journalists in Bhubaneshwar that he had told Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to have a re-look at the controversial project, saying it would submerge vast areas in Orissa.

He also expressed surprise at the centre's decision to accord 'national status' to the project, which has been strongly opposed by environmentalists. ''The project will submerge a large number of tribal villages in Orissa,'' he said.

Patnaik, who has steadfastly opposed the project in every possible forum, said he had told the prime minister that the ministry of environment and forests did not conduct any public hearing in Orissa before clearing the project. Nor did the union tribal affairs ministry take the Orissa government into confidence.

During his meeting with Prime Minister Dr Singh, Patnaik also sought a revision of the royalty payable on non-coal minerals, as it was last revised in 2004 and the next revision was already overdue since October 2007.

He drew the prime minister's attention to the recommendations of the 11th and 12th finance commissions that the state should be entitled to compensation in case the revision is not effected when it is due. Patnaik strongly urged that the royalty on non-coal minerals should be changed immediately to at least 20 per cent of the price of those minerals ad valorem.

He said while the mining royalty was not being revised for years together, the centre had been levying export duty on different ores which was not being passed on to the state. Such levies should be passed on to the states of origin of the exported ore, the chief minister urged.

Patnaik also spoke of the need to convert the Bhubaneswar-Chandikhol portion of the national highway into a six-lane highway in view of the heavy increase in traffic. He said that as the 'viability gap funding' was just about 38 per cent, the centre should sanction the "required funds".

Naveen also sought Manmohan's intervention in urgent utilisation of funds deposited by the state government in the CAMPA account with the ministry of environment and forests. He also requested the PM to increase funds for mid-day meals in view of the rise in prices of essential items.

In another meeting in the national capital with union human resource development minister Kapil Sibal, Patnaik said he stressed that the right to education bill passed in parliament would put an additional financial burden on the state, and the centre should increase allocations under the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) from 50 to 75 per cent.

Elaborating on his meeting with Sibal, the chief minister said he had also requested the minister to expedite work on setting up a world class university at Bhubaneswar and include engineering and medical streams in the proposed central varsity at Koraput.

Patnaik also said he had taken up matters relating to expansion of the National Horticulture Mission and the setting up of a national fishery mission in the state with union agriculture minister Sharad Pawar.

"Mr Pawar has agreed to extend coverage of the horticulture mission to three more districts as against my request to add six districts," he said.

Why SNAKE follows politicians in Orissa?

After the state Assembly went through scary hours following detection of snakes twice within a span of three days in July end, another hooded guest created flutter on Wednesday. This time the snake gained entry into the Assembly guesthouse, situated a stone’s throw from the Assembly.

Snake catchers caught hold of the 6-ft long rat snake (ptyas mucosus) from the guesthouse campus.

“It is rainy season. Snakes sneak into houses in search of preys,” Subhendu Mallick, member of Snake Helpline said.

Earlier on July 23, a reptile had stalled the house proceedings by slithering into the assembly. Two days later, another snake was caught from the august house. The entry of the slippery trespasser had forced the state government to take a decision of giving facelift to the House complex.

Kiss costs Shilpa dear again

Controversy continued to dog the Shilpa Shetty as the actor found herself in yet another ‘kiss’ row. A photograph, carried by certain new agencies showed a temple priest in Orissa planting a kiss on Shilpa’s cheek.

The media report claimed that the intimate scene was captured at a shrine in Sakhigopal in Puri district. But the sevayats of Sakhigopal temple did not buy the ‘spicy’ story. They claimed that the priest in the kissing scene was not from Sakhigopal shrine.

It may be noted that Shilpa had recently created flutter by reportedly flouting the Sakhigopal temple norm following which a police complaint was registered by the irate priests. But the actor later rubbished the charges. She had visited the temple for a shooting purpose.

Meanwhile, investigation revealed that the photograph relating to the old man with long grey beards kissing Shilpa was taken a temple in Mumbai when she had gone there to attend Naga Panchami Maha Puja on July 26.

Source :O tv

First suspected swine flu case in Orissa

Panic gripped the state as the killer H1N1 virus reportedly sneaked into Orissa territory with the detection of a suspected case of swine flu in Cuttack on Thursday. The maiden case cropped up a day after the state government issued guidelines to schools to adopt precautionary measures to keep swine flu at bay.

The patient, Birendra Patra, a resident of Pithapur area in Cuttack, has been kept in the newly constituted isolation ward meant for Swine Flu patients at the SCB Medical College and Hospital. A team of doctors are constantly monitoring his health condition.

Patra, who is employed in Singapore, had arrived at his hometown a few days ago. Doctors attending on him said that Patra showed the symptoms of swine flu and his blood samples have been sent to Pune for test. Earlier Patra underwent diagnosis after he complained of fever, cough, body aches and headache.

Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, meanwhile called an urgent meeting with officials concerned to chalk out measures to counter the menace.

On Wednesday, the state health department had issued circulars to schools asking them to remain vigilant to tackle the outbreak of swine flu. The state took up the decision in the wake of the death of a girl in Pune.

Source:O tv

Orissa demand revision of Non Coal Royality

The Orissa chief minister Naveen Patnaik today demanded the revision of royalty on non-coal minerals as it was last revised in 2004 and the next revision becoming due in October 2007.
This issue was raised by Patnaik during his meeting with the Prime Minister Naveen Patnaik in New Delhi today. He also drew the attention of the Prime Minister to the recommendations of the 11th and 12th Finance Commission that the state should be entitled to compensation in case the revision is not effected when it is due. Patnaik strongly urged for the revision of royalty on the non- coal minerals immediately and it should be at least 20 percent of the price of those minerals advalorem.
While the mining royalty is not revised for years together, the Centre has been levying export duty on different ores which is not being passed on to the state. Such levies should be passed on to the states of origin of the exported ore, the chief minister urged. The issue pertaining to the matter concerning the refund of assistance for floods of 2008 as demanded by the Government of India (GOI) also figured in the discussion between the two leaders. Urging the Prime Minister not to insist on the refund, Patnaik requested him to provide Rs 2687 crore to the state from the NCCF for meeting the loss caused by the flood.

Education Bill will Put More Burden on State Finance

The Right to Education Bill passed in Parliament will entail additional financial burden and the Centre needs to increase allocations by way of enhancing its share under the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) from 50 to 75 per cent, said chief minister Mr Naveen Patnaik today. Back from New Delhi, Mr Patnaik said he had raised the issue at his meeting with Union human resource development minister Mr Kapil Sibal.
Elaborating on his meeting with Mr Sibal, the chief minister told reporters here that he had also requested the minister to expedite work on setting up a world class varsity at Bhubaneswar and include engineering and medical streams in the proposed central varsity at Koraput.
Mr Patnaik said he had taken up matters relating to expansion of the National Horticulture Mission and the setting up of a National Fishery Mission in the state with Union minister Mr Sharad Pawar.
"Mr Pawar has agreed to extend coverage of the horticulture mission to three more districts as against my request to add six districts," said the chief minister.
With regards to the proposal for setting up a National Fishery Mission in Orissa, Mr Pawar said he would examine it, added the CM.
Mr Patnaik went on to iterate the discussions he had had with Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh. "I appraised him of the Polavaram project conceived by Andhra Pradesh and how it will cause submergence in bordering villages of Orissa," said Mr Patnaik. "The Prime Minister said he will examine it thoroughly," added Mr Patnaik.
He was hopeful that the royalty on minerals, another point made forcefully at his meeting with the PM, would be increased. Something substantial would be done on the revision of royalty, he observed.