Vedanta donates Rs. 30 lakh for Orissa Flood Victims

There has been a hue and cry over the apathy of leading industries in the state towards the flood-hit victims. However, Vedanta took the initiative on Sunday, by donating a cheque worth Rs. 30 lakh to Chief Minister's Relief Fund for the flood-hit victims. In addition, Vedanta has also decided to donate 20,000 tarpaulin sheets as relief materials.

The Vedanta University authorities have already supplied 8 metric tons of polythene sheets, 2 lakh food packets and 1 lakh water pouches in Puri district. Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik thanked Vedanta and urged other leading industries in the state to come forward to help flood-hit victims in Orissa.

Blame Game begins: Did Wrong Operation of Hirakud Dam trigger flood disaster?

Even as over 38 lakh people have been marooned by the flood fury in Mahanadi and other rivers in the state, out honourable politicians have begun the blame game. Millions of people are still without food, drinking water and shelter. But leaders don't care about their plight. They continued to blame each other.

A new controversy has surfaced over the operation of Hirakud Dam. According to sources, the Hirakud Dam operators had kept water level at the dam above the permitted level and did not bother to release them and waited till the disaster happened. According to experts, had the dam operated properly to keep the water level below the recommended level, the flood disaster could have been avoided.

The Hirakud Dam operators released 4.62 lakh cusecs of water on September 19 and then 7.91 lakh cusecs on September 20. That raised the water level to 16 lakh cusecs at Mundali Bridge on Mahanadi and triggered a severe flood situation in Orissa. The state government is yet to respond to the allegations brought against the operators of Hirakud Dam.

Orissa Government bans Mobile Phones in Colleges

To tackle the growing incidents of misuse of mobile phones inside college campuses by some mischievous students, the Orissa government has banned the use of mobile phones in colleges in the state. The ban would be imposed in both government and private colleges.

In recent days, it was found that some students are using mobile phones to harass girl students and they even take their pictures without permission. After some cases of sexual harassment using mobile phone came into light, the state government decided to act tough and ban the use of mobile phones in all colleges.

Orissa, Andhra Pradesh sign "historic" Transport Service Pact

Orissa and Andhra Pradesh have signed an agreement for inter-state transport service in Bhubaneswar. Both states have been trying to sign this historic pact for a long time, which finally came true. As per the new agreement, Orissa will send 38 more buses to operate on 10,362 km road in 9 routes of Andhra Pradesh. Similarly, Andhra Pradesh will send 72 buses, which will run on 10,344 km road in 17 routes of Orissa.

Both states will meet again to finalize the routes. the buses plying in both states, will be stationed at Jeypore, Koraput and Vijaynagaram. The pact was signed by Orissa Commerce and Transport minister Mr. Jaynarayan Mishra and Andhra Pradesh Trasnport Minister Mr. K Laxminarayan.

The agreement signed by Orissa and Andhra Pradesh governments settled the long-standing dispute over extra taxes collected from Orissa by the AP government. The Andhra Pradesh government has agreed to return such extra taxes collected and not collect any more from today. In addition, the AP government will sanction temporary permit to 100 four-wheelers, which will be subject to a review after three months. That will be followed by the issuance of a permanent permit.

Orissa becomes No. 1 state in India in Investment

In a significant development, Orissa has emerged as the country's No. 1 state in terms of investment and envisaged projects. The total volume of envisaged projects in Orissa was Rs. 5,99,181 crore. This is the not the first time Orissa topped the investment index in the country. It was Numero Uno in 2005, 2006 and 2007 too. Interestingly, Orissa also tops the list of places in terms of prorject implementation.

Major sectors that invested in Orissa were aluminium, air port, mines, port, energy, steel, railway and tourism. Out of the total volume of Rs 5,99,181 crore, Rs 3,08,589 crore investment was being implemented in the state at a faster pace. According to state government sources, a large number of investors are in the process of getting government nods for more investments.