Liquor shop downs shutter in face of public protest

By Alok Mohanty/www.indusvalleytimes.com
Cuttack: In a step forward towards combating anti-social activities, hundreds of agitating women from Jillinda, Regeda and Kamaladiha villaged under Narasinghpur tehsil in Cuttack district recently forced closure of two liquor shops in their area.
The shut down shops were opened two months ago allegedly without the prior consent of the Palli Sabhas.
Binapani Mahila Mahasangha and the Mukti, a philanthropic organisation, had resorted to strike and demonstrations for over a month seeking closure of the shops. Hundreds of local people, including women, had participated in the protest rally.
During the protest rally, the agitators assembled at Medical Ground at Jillinda where the resolved to make the area drug-free.
Jnana Ranjan Nayak, Sushant Mohanty, Muna Pradhan, Uttam Nayak and Jyotsnarani Sahoo, Anjalibala Pradhan and Anima Ray were among several leaders who spearheaded the campaign against the closure of the liquor shops.
Dr Biswajit, central co-ordinator of Rastriya Youth Organisation coordinated the programme.
“The protest against spread of liquor trade in area will continue and those who will stand in the way will face the consequences,” warned Sushant Mohanty, president of Mukti said.
-Alok Mohanty is student of Ravenshaw University, Cuttack, Orissa.

Orissa government should publish a whitepaper on the Industry : Janata Vikash Manch

By Our Correspondent/
www.indusvalleytimes.com

Bhubaneswar: Janata Vikash Manch, a leading forum of intellectuals on Thursday urged the Orissa government to come out with all the details on how many memorandum of understandings (MoUs) has been signed since 2000 and how many of them have materialized till date.
The forum also sought details on how many people will lose their land and livelihood and how many jobs will be created through these MoUs.
In an interaction with the media, office-bearers of the forum said the Saxena Committee and Meena Gupta Committee report on Posco project in Jagatsinghpur and Saxena Committee on Vedanta project at Niyamgiri and Orissa High Court order on Vedanta University land issue show that the ecological impact of these plants needs to be properly assessed by the independent authorities before giving clearances to any project.
While interacting with the media persons here recently, the JVM members Sai Prasan, Pritikant Panda, Devi Prasad Tripathy, P. Deepti Rani and Manoj Jena said that Orissa government may resolve the problems it is facing in projects like Posco and Vedanta.
“It should take the people of the area into confidence and democratically sort out the issues in a transparent manner. The rule of law should prevail. It may hold referendum too, if necessary, to seek a public opinion in the project affected areas like it has been done in the RIL’s SEZ project in Rayagada district of Maharashtra,” they demanded.
The JVM Team said that only paying the compensation to the people against their land and offering them jobs may not be enough. Apart from this, the state government should explore other options too. The valuation of the land can be done. And, the value of the cost of the land can be converted into an equity which can also make the land owners shareholders / stakeholders in the project. A Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) can be created for this purpose.
The political leadership both at the Union and Odisha government/s should rise above the party lines and work together to resolve all the issues concerning these projects in interest of the people of the state. They should follow the rule of law and work in a democratic and transparent manner in the interest of the state, they said.
The industrial scenario of the state in the last one decade clearly shows that few people have got jobs and more people have lost their livelihood. Hence, the development of the agriculture sector is necessary for the development of the 85% of the population living in rural Orissa. However, the continuous suicides of the poor farmers show the health of the agriculture sector is also not good.
The Farmers Commission has submitted its interim report. The Commission needs to address several important issues in its final report to be submitted in February or March next year. The farmers are mainly committing suicides recently two in due to the higher interest rates, weak irrigation facility and absence of the land pattas. Absence of pattas deprives the farmers of availing the benefit offered by the governmental agencies.

Orissa MLA throws pen-stand at Speaker’s podium, regrets

By Ratikant Mohanty
Bhubaneswar, Dec. 20: The Orissa Legislative Assembly, which is most often in news for wrong reasons, on Monday witnessed yet another unpleasant scene as Congress members – irked by “insulting” remarks by the state industry minister Raghuanth Mohanty trooped into the well of the House and one of them threw a pen-stand the Speaker’s podium.
Fortunately, the pen-stand did not hit the Speaker. It flew away a few yards right of the Speaker Pradip Kumar Amat and fell behind his chair after hitting the wall.
The noisy scene took place during the question hour when industry minister Raghunath Mohanty, during his reply to a query, observed that the Opposition Congress members were involved in tender fixing activity in water resources department.
Enraged at the minister’s statement, the Congress members rushed to well of the House and urged the Speaker to direct the minister to “withdraw” his remark.
As the Speaker did not pass on the any ruling on the Opposition’s demand, Congress members Santosh Singh Saluja threw a pen stand at the Speaker’s podium.
Seeing that the situation was turning violent, the Speaker adjourned the House for 15 minutes from 11.14 a.m. to 11.29 a.m.
After the House reassembled, Congress member Mr Saluja expressed regret for his act. The minister Mr Mohanty sounded apologetic and said he did not want to hurt the sentiment of the Opposition.
Chief minister Naveen Patnaik condemned the behavior of Congress member Mr Saluja as “unfortunate” and said the Speaker would take appropriate action against the legislator.
“This is most unfortunate that a violent incident took place in the Orissa Legislative Assembly today. I hope the Speaker would take appropriate action against the member (Santosh Singh Saluja),” said Mr Patnaik.

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Naxals trigger twin blasts, destroy culvert

By C.B.Singh
Rayagada, Dec. 20: Maoist rebels on Sunday night blew up a culvert by triggering two successive landmine blasts at Dhepaguda near Podapadar disrupting vehicular movement between Koraput and Rayagada district.
The intensity of the blasts was so high that the culvert turned into a heap of concrete rubbles and five-feet deep hole was created on the road.
Sources said the ultras, who had killed a local man last week brandinghim as a police agent, triggered blasts to register their protest about setting up of a BSF camp in the area.
The security personnel have cordoned of the area and launched combing operation.
In yet another development, a joint-team of West Bengal and Orissa police arrested three hardcore Maoists from from Jhauri and Telia forests on the borders of the two states.
“Acting on tip off, security personnel from Orissa and West Bengal raided Jhauri and Telia, destroyed a camp run by the rebels and arrested three ultras. Three rifles, 14 live cartridges and 21 gelatin sticks were seized from them,” Mayurbhanj superintendent of police Dayal Gangwar told reporters at Baripada.
Mr Gangawar added that the three Maoist leaders - Kishore, Ranjan and Dipa – who were running the camp – managed to flee the spot.
The arrested ultras were identified as Umakanta Bera of Pachurakhuara and Subash Badhuka of Badatanga villages under Nayagram police station and Rupaka Mahanta of Ramchandrapur village under Jhargram police station in West Bengal.
The SP said the apprehended rebels were Gopiballavpur and Nayangram area of West
Bengal’s West Midnapore district and Suliapada and Chandia area of Orissa’s Mayurbhanj district.
www.indusvalleytimes.com

Orissa MLA throws pen-stand at Speaker’s podium, regrets

By Ratikant Mohanty
Bhubaneswar, Dec. 20: The Orissa Legislative Assembly, which is most often in news for wrong reasons, on Monday witnessed yet another unpleasant scene as Congress members – irked by “insulting” remarks by the state industry minister Raghuanth Mohanty trooped into the well of the House and one of them threw a pen-stand the Speaker’s podium.
Fortunately, the pen-stand did not hit the Speaker. It flew away a few yards right of the Speaker Pradip Kumar Amat and fell behind his chair after hitting the wall.
The noisy scene took place during the question hour when industry minister Raghunath Mohanty, during his reply to a query, observed that the Opposition Congress members were involved in tender fixing activity in water resources department.
Enraged at the minister’s statement, the Congress members rushed to well of the House and urged the Speaker to direct the minister to “withdraw” his remark.
As the Speaker did not pass on the any ruling on the Opposition’s demand, Congress members Santosh Singh Saluja threw a pen stand at the Speaker’s podium.
Seeing that the situation was turning violent, the Speaker adjourned the House for 15 minutes from 11.14 a.m. to 11.29 a.m.
After the House reassembled, Congress member Mr Saluja expressed regret for his act. The minister Mr Mohanty sounded apologetic and said he did not want to hurt the sentiment of the Opposition.
Chief minister Naveen Patnaik condemned the behavior of Congress member Mr Saluja as “unfortunate” and said the Speaker would take appropriate action against the legislator.
“This is most unfortunate that a violent incident took place in the Orissa Legislative Assembly today. I hope the Speaker would take appropriate action against the member (Santosh Singh Saluja),” said Mr Patnaik.

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Judo coach Biranchi killers get life term

By Debdas Pradhan
Bhubaneswar, Dec. 17: The Fast Track Court-III, Bhubaneswar, on Friday awarded life sentence to gangster Sandeep Acharya alias Raja and his aide Chagala alias Akshaya Behera in the murder case of Biranchi Das, the coach of wonder boy and marathon runner Budhia Singh.
Both the accused were convicted on December 13 under Sections 302 (murder) read 34 (common intention) and 120-B (criminal conspiracy).
The court awarded three years imprisonment to the two convicts under Sections 25 and 27 of the Arms Act.
Reacting to the judgment, public prosecutor Sudhansu Sekhar Swain said: “I bow down and accept the judgment.”
Hailing the verdict, Biranchi’s widow Gitanjali said she was happy that the culprit was finally punished in the court of law. “I’m happy that the culprit has been punished. This would certainly send message to his followers not to commit any such offences in future,” she said.
Bana Mohanty, Raja’s counsel said the lower court’s verdict would be challenged in the Orissa High Court. “We welcome the judgment. However, since there are no substantial evidences against Raja and Chagala, we will challenge the judgment in the upper court,” said Mr Mohanty.
Immediately after the judge, Bibekananda Dash pronounced the sentence, the convicts were whisked away to Jharpada jail in a highly fortified van.
Before the judge announcement sentence, the prosecution lawyers – while mentioning that Biranchi murder case was a rarest of rare crime - argued for capital punishment saying that the convicts had serious criminal antecedents and they were unlikely to mend themselves in the future. The defence counsel objected to it and said the nature of murder did not come under the rarest of the rare crime category.
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BJP takes to the street over Vedanta land scam

By Debdas Pradhan & Sikha Sashirekha

Bhubaneswar, Dec. 7: The Bharatiya Janata Party state unit on Tuesday took to the streets over Vedanta land scam by organising a massive public rally here demanding resignation of the chief minister.

Top BJP leaders, including state president Jual Oram and Legislature Party leader K.V. Singhdeo, fired salvos at the Naveen Patnaik government saying it was concerned more for “land grabbing” than “looking after” the interests of the common people.

State president Mr Oram, who is a bitter critic of the BJD supremo and chief minister Naveen Patnaik, said the latter mistook the mandate of the people as a license to do all “wrongs” and expected the people to accept them as “legally correct things.”

“The present government is behaving in an autocratic way. It mistakenly believes that the people’s mandate it has got is the license to all wrongs and expects us to accept them. It had promised to protect jal, jamin and jungle (water, land and forest), but unfortunately it is doling out these properties to private business houses. We just cannot keep our eyes closed to such blatant loot of our resources and protest it,” Mr Oram said.

BJPLP leader Mr Singhdeo said the selling out of Jagannath temple land by the ruling BJD to Vedanta University was blot on the Naveen Patnaik government’s face and “it just cannot erase this deliberate blunder.”

“The selling of Jagannath temple land by the ruling BJD is big blunder. The BJD leadership Mr Patnaik encouraged the government officials to flout all norms and laws to grab the temple land. This is high time he should resign from his post and face a probe to prove his honesty,” Mr Singhdeo said.

Biswa Bhusan Harichandan, who was the revenue and law minister in BJD-BJP coalition government when the Rs 15,000-crore Vedanta University project was cleared, said the BJD was so obsessed with the university project that it did not listen to the objections raised by the law department.

“The chief minister claims he is a great worshipper of law. Now that he faces allegations of corruption and nepotism in land acquisition deal, he should step down from his position and face an inquiry. But, he has turned down our demand as he is fully convinced that he would be up for a big trouble once he quits his post. However, the BJP will not take rest unless and until this man ousted from the chief ministership,” said Mr Harichandan.

Rebels kill three persons in Sundergarh

By Debdas Pradhan

Sundergarh, Dec. 6: Maoist rebels on Monday slaughtered three persons, including an elected village ward-member and a non-formal teacher, at Topadihi under K. Balanga police limit.

The victims were identified as ward-member Nuan Munda, teacher Nanjan Munda and Doud Munda.

According to police, a group of red rebels on Monday morning came to Topadihi village and took away Doud Munda with them.

On hearing that the rebels had confined Doud in school building on the outskirt of their village, the residents of Topadihi went there and requested them to release him. Although the Maoist freed Doud, they revisited the village after two hours and again picked him (Doud) up. Besides, they also took away Nuan Muna and Nanjan Munda with them.

In the evening, the villagers were informed that the bodies of the three abducted villagers were lying near the Topadihi railway station. The rebels had killed the victims by slitting their throats.

Sources said Doud was in the target of the rebels as they suspected him acting as a police informer. Similarly, Nuan Munda and Nanjan Munda were in their hit-list as they were leading a pro-administration movement in the area.

Eyewitnesses said the rebels, who are around 60-70 in number, were armed to the teeth with automatic guns and rifles.

The police has started combing operation in that area.

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Pandemonium in Orissa Assembly over Vedanta University land deal, missing of file

Ratikant Mohanty
Bhubaneswar, Dec. 6: Deadlock continues to prevail in Orissa Legislative Assembly. The Opposition Congress on Monday stalled the Assembly proceedings protesting the ruling BJD’s “reluctance” to take actions against the government officials who “connived” to acquire Jagannath temple land for the proposed Vedanta University and missing of file of S. N. Das Mohapatra Limited, a mining company.

The question hour business was conducted only for 16 minutes as the Speaker Pradeep Kumat Amat adjourned the House following pandemonium created by the Congress, the main opposition in the Assembly.

Speaking to reporters after adjournment of the House, Leader of the Opposition Bhupinder Singh said the state government was paying no heed to the Opposition’s demand to inform the House as to what actions had been taken following the HC direction to “punish” the culprits who violated forest and environment laws to favour Vedanta University.

“The Naveen Patnaik government seems to have no respect for the law of the land. It even does not care to obey the order of the judiciary. The Naveen Patnaik government is keen to protect the offenders as it has its own share in the offence,” Mr Singh said.

On November 16, The Orissa High Court had declared the land acquisition for the Vedanta University project at Puri as “illegal” and asked the company to return the acquired land to the concerned people, agencies and the state government. Besides, the court directed the state government to take actions against the officials who facilitated the illegal land acquisition.

During the brief question hour business, Congress chief whip Prasad Harichandan raised the issue of missing of S.N. Das Mohapatra Limited (SNML) mining lease file from the state secretariat and sought an explanation from the government on this.

BJP Legislature Party Leader K.V. Singhdeo, while expressing dismay over the file missing, said the government could have deliberately suppressed the file as it was a vital evidence to the multi-crore mining scam.

“The missing of S.N. Das Mohapatra Mining Limited file from the high-security state secretariat is a very serious issue. When the state secretariat is not a safe place, one can well imagine what could be the situation outside,” Mr Singhdeo said.

Meanwhile, a team of police officials from the Capital Police Station went to the mining department office in the secretariat and asked the questioned a few officials about the missing file.