Tuesday, October 30, 2012

Bhubaneswar Odia in final round of WSJ columnist test Odia in final round of WSJ columnist test TUESDAY, 30 OCTOBER 2012 22:55 PNS | BALANGIR HITS: 3


 Bhubaneswar http://www.dailypioneer.com/templates/ja_teline_iv/images/arrow.png Odia in final round of WSJ columnist test
TUESDAY, 30 OCTOBER 2012 22:55
PNS | BALANGIR
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Odia writer Hari Hara Mishra moved to the final round of global contest conducted by Market Watch column of the Wall Street Journal. He secured the highest votes in the second round.
The Market Watch column of the Wall Street Journal is conducting   a three-round competition to find out the world’s next great investing columnist. The three-round contest started with 100 entries from across the globe which were published in the web portal of MarketWatch and put to vote by readers through social networking ID like Facebook/ Twitter etc.
From among 100 entries, 25 entries progressed to the second round based on readers’ likes and out of the 25, a total of six contestants were moved to final by a panel of judges.  Mishra, basically a banker and currently based at Mumbai, is working as vice president of Asset Reconstructions Company Limited. He was also a consultant with Banker to Banker’s Academy at New York.
Thanking all those who supported him in previous rounds, Mishra urged people to support him in the final round by clicking him in the links: http://blogs.marketwatch.com/great-columnist/2012/10/29/ water-investments-the-secular-bull-run/. The voting for the entries will be closed on November 4.

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Centre nod for R-APDRP assistance for CESU TUESDAY, 30 OCTOBER 2012 23:18 PNS | BHUBANESWAR HITS: 22


http://www.dailypioneer.com/templates/ja_teline_iv/images/arrow.png Bhubaneswar http://www.dailypioneer.com/templates/ja_teline_iv/images/arrow.png Centre nod for R-APDRP assistance for CESU
TUESDAY, 30 OCTOBER 2012 23:18
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The Union Ministry of Power seems to have agreed to extend financial assistance under the Restructured Accelerated Power Development and Reform Programme (R-APDRP) to the Central Electricity Supply Utility (CESU) of Odisha through the State Government.
In a letter to Balangir BJD MP Kalikesh Narayan Singh Deo, the Union Minister for Power has written, “In the States, where distribution functions are being performed by power departments, R-APDRP funding is being given to State Government. Therefore, it may be possible to extend R-APDRP to CESU through Government of Odisha”.
Earlier, Singh Deo had sent his letter and discussed the issue with  M Veerappa Moily, who was then in charge of the Union Ministry of Power. The Minister recently replied, “In this regard, the State Government has been requested to send its consent for receiving the funds under R-APDRP, channelising them to distribution sector in CESU area.”
He has said that as per the requirement of the scheme, what is needed is undertaking responsibility of fulfilling the conditions prescribed in the scheme and accepting the obligation of repayment of the loans.
The Union Minister’s letter also reveals that the proposal for extending R-APDRP assistance to private distribution utilities is under consideration of the Ministry.
The Odisha Government has time and again demanded that the Union Ministry of Power include the State in R-APDRP. Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik had written a letter to the Prime Minister urging him to take necessary steps to sanction financial assistance to the CESU under the R-APDRP without any further delay.
Stating that by availing of R-APDRP assistance many States have substantially reduced the AT&C (aggregate technical and commercial) losses to below 25 per cent, Patnaik had said Odisha is still suffering AT&C loss of about 40 per cent on being deprived of R-APDRP assistance.

Friday, October 19, 2012

Odia gets second highest votes for his column SATURDAY, 20 OCTOBER 2012 00:00 PNS | BALANGIR HITS: 31


 Bhubaneswar http://www.dailypioneer.com/templates/ja_teline_iv/images/arrow.png Odia gets second highest votes for his column
SATURDAY, 20 OCTOBER 2012 00:00
PNS | BALANGIR
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The golden days ahead, an article by Indian financial writer Hari Hara Mishra garnered the second highest votes in a global competition held recently by Marketwatch (Wall Street Journal) to find the world’s next great investing columnist. A total of 100 eligible entries were received from several countries in the first round and was put up for voting.
Out of them the best 25 columnists have moved to second round and their fresh entries are published and put up for marking reader’s by Facebook/Linkedin/Twitter ID.
A total of six articles, three by popular votes and three by panel of editors of Market Watch, would be selected for the final round. Thanking all those who have supported in the first round, Mishra in a message has appealed to extend their support. In this round, his column on distressed debt investment opportunities in India is available in the linkhttp://blogs.marketwatch.com/great-columnist/2012/10/15/distressed-debt-investment-opportunities-in-india/.

Wednesday, October 17, 2012

SP seeks adequate insurance for crop loss in Balangir WEDNESDAY, 17 OCTOBER 2012 23:25 PNS | BALANGIR HITS: 3 ·


 Bhubaneswar http://www.dailypioneer.com/templates/ja_teline_iv/images/arrow.png SP seeks adequate insurance for crop loss in Balangir
WEDNESDAY, 17 OCTOBER 2012 23:25
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Demanding adequate crop insurance, several affected farmers of Tamiaan, Phatamunda and Deolgaon gram panchayats of Patnagarh block led by Samajwadi Party Balangir unit president Arun Mishra on Tuesday took out a rally through Balangir town and submitted a memorandum to the Chief Minister of Odisha through the district administration.
A total of 745 farmers of the three panchyats had deposited Rs 3, 50,000 in Tamiaan branch of the Central Bank of India towards their crop insurance premium. Even though there was a crop loss of 90 per cent in these panchayats, but the farmers did not receive due insurance compensation, alleged Mishra.
“The assessment of crop loss has not been made properly. The State Government should constitute a committee for probing the actual loss incurred by the farmers due to drought and provide justice to the victim   farmers,” Mishra demanded. The present per acre compensation is low and it should be increased further by amending the Relief Code of 1958. To provide relief to farmers, the Government should announce a bonus of `300 with minimum support price (MSP) of Paddy, Mishra added.

Thursday, October 11, 2012

Jagneswar joining Jana Morcha to have no impact, says BJD THURSDAY, 11 OCTOBER 2012 23:38 PNS | BALANGIR HITS: 1 ·


 Bhubaneswar http://dailypioneer.com/templates/ja_teline_iv/images/arrow.png Jagneswar joining Jana Morcha to have no impact, says BJD
THURSDAY, 11 OCTOBER 2012 23:38
PNS | BALANGIR
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With a view to propagating the people’s welfare measures undertaken by the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) Government headed by Naveen Patnaik and strengthening the BJD’s base in rural areas further, party activists undertook a massive Padayatra of party workers in Titilagarh in Balangir district on Wednesday.
The Padayatra was held under the leadership of Abhimanyu Sahu and Pramod Pradhan of the party’s youth wing in the presence of party observer and former MLA Dhaneshwar Majhi and Tilittoma Nayak from Kalahandi.
Reeling out statistics on the development measures taken by the BJD Government, BJD youth wing general secretary Abhimanyu Sahu called upon people to strengthen the base of the BJD in rural areas and continue to support the Naveen Patanik Government.
The speakers also criticised the move of former district MLA Jagneswar in joining as the chief spokesperson of BJD rebel leader Pyarimohan Mohapatra’s Odisha Jana Morcha. His joining of the Morcha would have “almost negligible impact” as far as the prospects of the BJD in the Titilagarh Assembly constituency are concerned, said Sahu and Pradhan.
The BJD leaders and workers pledged their support to Naveen Patnaik and resolved to work for strengthening of the party in Tiltilgarh and in the district as a whole.
Among others, Gopa Mahanad, Geeeta Bisi, Bhaktaram Majhi and chairperson of Titilagarh NAC Yamuna Padhee spoke on the occasion.

Wednesday, October 3, 2012

Indian writer’s blog selected in global contest WEDNESDAY, 03 OCTOBER 2012 22:02 PNS | BALANGIR HITS: 5


 Bhubaneswar http://dailypioneer.com/templates/ja_teline_iv/images/arrow.png Indian writer’s blog selected in global contest
WEDNESDAY, 03 OCTOBER 2012 22:02
PNS | BALANGIR
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Indian financial writer Hari Hara Mishra’s blog,http://blogs.marketwatch.com/great columnist/2012/09/27/the-golden-days-ahead/ has been short-listed as one of the best blogs on market economy.
A survey is being conducted by the Wall Street Journal and a total three rounds of screening would be carried out. Besides the merit of an article, it also takes note of popularity count including likes in Facebook, Twitter and other global networking sites.
In a message, Mishra has urged people to support his entry by clicking the blog above with a Facebook account, Tweet for person having twitter account as the voting will close shortly.

Water Shortage in Western Odisha due to deviation from traditional water and land usage Posted on December 6, 2011

Dear all
I enclose a story published intheWater Integrity Network ofSouthAsiasection for your perusal.
This was published in last year.
I enclosed the news for your perusal.
SudhirMishra/Pioneer/Balangir
============================================

Water Shortage in Western Odisha due to deviation from traditional water and land usage



Water Shortage in Western Odisha due to deviation from traditional water and land usage

Written by Sudhir Mishra, a Balangir (Odisha) based journalist working with The Pioneer, a leading Indian newspaper. His contact email is sudhirmishra1@rediffmail.com 
This year in 2011, a grim reality of acute water shortage has been looming large over the western Odisha’s rural populace (an area in eastern India that is prone to droughts) , thanks to the scanty and erratic monsoon and rapid decline in the traditional water bodies and traditional water conservation practices. It is greatly affecting the agricultural operations and crop production and the rural economy as a whole.
This crisis is going to compound in the coming years, as the traditional water conservation mechanism of western Odisha has been declining rapidly over the years due to the compulsions of the developing society like the population explosion, changing land usage and modern agricultural practices. Since time immemorial, the traditional water bodies conserve rainwater to meet the water needs of the people, to recharge the groundwater and to provide irrigation to the crops. In the undivided Balangir and Kalahandi districts of western Odisha, there were about 300 traditional water harvesting structures (TWHS) that irrigated 33 per cent of land, which is now down to 5 per cent only.
In Kalahandi district of Western Odisha, there were 120 TWHSs, out of which around 85 have now been converted to residential plots. Following the conversion of the TWHSs into residential plots for the housing purpose, the problem of flash floods in the habitations has now arisen, as the rain water finds no place to be stored during the heavy downpour and creates floods.
The population explosion has led to clearing up of the forests and loss of forests resulted in more soil erosion resulting in siltation of water bodies. The encroachment further aggravated the woes. In addition, more emphasis is being laid by the government-industry-contractors nexus on large-scale irrigation projects following which the popularity of water harvesting structures has declined. The Government is promoting farm ponds to provide assured irrigation, but small farmers having land less than one acre, find it difficult to dig such a pond. Instead, the Government should emphasize on digging of TWHSs in the fields which can be dug in small areas and water can be stored till five to six months.
The traditional tribes like the Kuda tribe of Balangir and the nomadic Bhunjia tribe were experts in digging wells and ponds and could predict the presence of water in an area just by viewing the soil. They are now working as daily wage labourers, as no new water bodies are being created in the area, leaving very less skilled people having the traditional knowledge.
The past generations inhabiting this area had great scientific knowledge of water management. They had also anticipated the climate change and ill-effects for which they had developed such a large network of traditional water bodies to save crop besides meeting their other basic needs and the traditional cropping pattern was done according to the water availability.
One local saying very beautifully sums up the importance of TWHSs, ‘khet ke muda te, ghar ke bhudha te’. It means that there should be a water harvesting structure for the providential need of cultivable fields that saves us from the drought just like the very presence of an elderly person guides the family in crisis.
Ironically, we are blindly following other models which have brought a lot of unseen problems for the poor farmers of this region and it is time be looked back towards our traditional wisdom to use the scarce water resources.

Padayatra held to protect G’mardan from forest fire and other forest fire news and stories of Bolangirand odisha since2013

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