Tuesday 18 May 2010

Berhampur Municipal Corporation takes up beautification of the city


Paintings on tribal life of Koraput depicted on city walls
The Silk 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

Tuesday 11 May 2010

GPL announces financial closure - Stage set for all-weather Gopalpur port

Gopalpur Ports Ltd (GPL) announced financial closure for the first phase of its all weather direct berthing deepwater port at Gopalpur. The company would be constructing breakwaters with at least three or four berths to handle large vessels with associated material handling equipment, stockyards, warehouses and railway infrastructure in Phase-I.
Managing Director Mahimananda Mishra said that the closure was achieved with a consortium of 11 banks coming forward to support with a total loan amount of Rs 848.78 crore. The loan agreement was signed with the consortium led by Punjab National Bank, Bank of India, State Bank of India, SB of Travancore, Dena Bank, OBC, UBI, Union Bank, Indian Bank and UCO Bank. For the first time, the largest infrastructure financer India Infrastructure Finance Corporation Ltd has participated in a project in Orissa. The project is estimated to be to the tune of Rs 1,400 crore with the rest of the funding relying on investment by promoters and internal accruals.
Following the financial achievement, the stage is set for conversion of the minor port to an all-weather one. Environmental clearance for the project is under process of the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests and is likely to be handed over soon. “We expect to land the necessary clearances in the next month and a half, and target completing the first phase work in 18 months. GPL has already started the process of awarding contracts,” Mishra said. The port after full development is envisaged to handle 25 million tonne of cargo.
Jointly promoted by a consortium between Orissa Stevedores Limited (OSL) and Sara International Limited (SIL) and operational under a concession agreement from the State Government, the port currently has an anchorage facility and open from September to May.
Director Charchit Mishra said that the port handled five million tonne of cargo during the last shipping season 2009-10 marking an overwhelming 90 per cent increase over 2008-09. The port directly employs 4,500 persons and has revitalised the local economy of the area, he said.
Source: The New Indian Express

Monday 10 May 2010

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



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








 


BERHAMPUR: 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.
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.
Welcome change
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