Berhampur becomes a Municipal Corporation

Breaking News! Chief Naveen Patnaik gave a New Year gift to people in Berhampur, who were long demanding the Municipal Corporation status for the city. The state government has decided to give a Municipal Corporation status to Berhampur. Berhampur will be the third city in the state after Bhubaneswar and Cuttack to get this status.

There will be a Mayor and Dy. Mayor in Berhampur, which has a population of 3.2 lakhs. The government employees residing in Berhampur, will receive 30% of their basic pay as HR allowances.

An officer of IAS rank, will be the Commissioner of Berhampur Municipal Corporation (BMC), while another officer of OAS rank will be the Deputy Commissioner. The existing Chairperson of the Berhampur Municipality will be known as Mayor, while the Deputy Chairperson will be known as Deputy Mayor. All existing Councilors will be called as Corporators.

IIT-Bhubaneswar to come up at Argul near Jatni

The much-awaited IIT-Bhubaneswar will come up at Argul near Jatni - 20 km from Bhubaneswar. The site selection committee headed by additional Secretary of the Ministry of Human Resource Development Ashok Thakur, has selected Argul for the IIT site. The proposed IIT-site at Argul will come up on the land of 891 acres.

According to the state government, 500 acres of the land will be immediately available for construction. Argul near Jatni is well connected with rail and road. In addition, many engineering colleges and other educational institutions are coming up in the adjacent area.

Orissa Government approves 30- 60% Pay Hike for Government Employees

Breaking News! The Orissa Government has approved a 30 - 60% pay hike for the government employees in the state as per the recommendations of the Sixth Pay Commission. The pay hike range will be applicable to all employees according to their grades. Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik's decision to implement the Sixth Pay Commission recommendations brought huge cheer to all government employees in the state.

The government employees will reap a huge cash bonanza in terms of arrears, as the pay hike will take effect from January 01, 2006. The Cabinet has approved the recommendations of the Fitment Committee, which was set up to consider the recommendations of Sixth Pay Commission. Here are the key features of the implementation of Six Pay Commission Recommendations in Orissa:

• 30 - 60% pay hike for the government employees as per the recommendations of the Sixth Pay Commission
• On an average, the employees will receive a 36 percent pay hike in salary and perks
• Over 5 lakh government employees will be benefited from the pay hike
• The pay hike will also be applicable to all pensioners
• The pay hike will take effect from January 01, 2006
• 40% of the arrears will be paid in 2008-09 and remaining 60% in 2009-10
• All employees and pensioners will get the revised salary for the month of December, January and February
• The lowest pay scale will be Rs. 4,440 - Rs. 7,440 with a grade pay of Rs. 1,300 per month,
• The highest pay scale will be Rs. 37,400 - Rs. 67,000 with a grade pay of Rs. 9,000 per month
• A state government employee working at the lowest level, will get a minimum of Rs. 9,000 per month, while the highest salary will be around Rs. 1 lakh per month
• The minimum pension hiked to Rs. 3,500 per month for both pensioners and family pensioners. Additional pension after 80 years
• There will be five pay bands instead of existing 28
• Employees in the same pay band, will receive "grade pay"
• The DA (Dearness Allowances) will be calculated as 2% of basic salary on July 1, 2006, 6% on January 01, 2007, 9% on July 1, 2007, 12% on January 1, 2008 and 16% on July 1, 2008
• The gratuity amount has been raised from Rs. 2.5 lakh to Rs. 7.5 lakh
• The commuted value of pension increased to 40%
• Full pension to people who complete 25 years in service
• There will be three promotion slabs for govt. employees - 15, 25 and 30 years
• 20% HRA for employees living in towns with a population of 5 lakh - 50 lakh
• 10% HRA for employees living in towns with a population of less than 5 lakhs
• 5% HRA for employees living in other areas
• The pay hike will cost the government an additional burden of Rs 2,250 crore per annum
• The government will have to bear Rs. 4,200 crore towards the payment of arrear salary and Rs. 2,100 crore towards the payment of arrear pension

Other Key decisions taken by the State Cabinet:

• The block grants given to schools have been raised from 40% to 60%
• All grant-in-aid high schools will have a third peon
• All VLWs(Village Level Workers) will be promoted to the rank of Executive Officer of Gram Panchayats
• VAWs (Village Agriculture Workers) won't get the promotional benefits

UCE, Burla to become a State University

Breaking News! In a bid to appease the Western Orissa voters ahead of assembly elections in the state, which are due early next year, the Orissa Government has decided to move the Orissa University of Technical Bill-2008, which will grant the State University status to the University College of Engineering (UCE) at Burla.

The decision to grant the State University status to UCE, was taken at the Cabinet meeting, chaired by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Tuesday. The bill will be moved in the State Assembly on Wednesday. The students of Western Orissa have been demanding this for a long time. Once the bill is passed in the assembly, the University College of Engineering (UCE), Burla will be a Unitary University with the name of Orissa University of Technology (OUT).

State Cabinet refuses to ban Liquor Business

The Orissa Cabinet, has refused to ban liquor business in the state, as recommended by the Justice PK Patra Commission, which inquired into the Ganjam liquor tragedy in 2006. The government argued that putting a ban on liquor business, will lead to an annual loss of excise revenue up to Rs. 524.82 crore, Rs. 121.61 crore on sales tax and Rs. 55.31 lakh towards entry tax.

The Ganjam liquor tragedy had claimed 19 lives. The incident sparked off a major row and forced then Excise Minister Kalindi Behera to resign. The government had also suspended 15 officials including Deputy Commissioner (Excise), Superintendent (Excise) and a Police Inspector.

Justice PK Patra Commission did not name any politicians, officials or police in the report. However, it admitted that illegal liquor business was going on with the full knowledge of the excise and police officials.

Orissa Assembly passes Bill to reserve 27% posts for Backward Classes

The Orissa Assembly passed a bill to reserve 27% jobs for the backward classes in all civil posts. The additional quota will be given to the candidates from socially and educationally backward classes. The Orissa Reservation of Posts and Services (for socially and educationally backward classes) Bill, 2008, was passed by a voice vote.

The total ratio of reservation in all civil posts in Orissa, will now go up to 65.75 percent, which means the general category candidates will now have only 34.25 percent posts to compete for. The opposition has termed the government's decision as "election-oriented". Currently, the SCs have 16.25 reservation, while the STs will have 22.5 percent reservation.

Pantaloons Femina Miss India East 2009

Breaking News! Five Oriya girls, Ms Sashmita Mishra, Ms Banaja Samal, Ms Sushmi Nayak, Ms Swagatika Das and Ms Rupsa Rani Nayak have been selected for the next round of Pantaloons Femina Miss India East 2009 to be held in Kolkata. The short-listed Oriya girls are the mixture of beauty and brain and have the power to set the stage on fire.

The Pantaloons Femina Miss India East 2009 is being held for the first time this year and auditions were held in Kolkata, Patna, Guwahati and Bhubaneshwar. The elimination round will be held on January 27 in Kolkata.

The grand finale will be held on February 17 in Kolkata, where the first Pantaloons Femina Miss India East 2009 will be selected. The winner will get a direct entry to Pantaloons Femina Miss India 2009 to be held on April 11.

(Content © Breaking News Online)

Thumbs Up for Naveen Patnaik, as BJD sweeps BMC Polls

Breaking News! In a thumbs up to Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik and his work, people in Bhubaneswar have a given a clear mandate to ruling BJD (Biju Janata Dal) in the BMC (Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation) elections. The BJD won 40 out of 60 wards - a two-third majority. It does not require the support of its coalition partner BJP, which fought on its own, but ended up with just 9 wards.

The Congress was wiped out in the BMC elections, as the party managed to win just 4 seats. Independents won 6 wards and Samrudha Orissa won one. BJD has emerged as a strong force in the BMC elections and there is no doubt that it will repeat the same results in the coming assembly elections. On the other hand, it became clear that BJP won't be able to survive in Orissa without the support of BJD.

Congress did well in Phulbani and G. Udayagiri civic polls. Out of 13 wards in Phulbani Municipality, Congress won 5 wards, while BJD and BJP won 4 and 2 wards respectively. The remaining two wards went to independents. However, if the BJD and BJP form an alliance with the support of independents, they can win the Municipality. In G. Udayagiri, Congress won 6 wards, while BJD won 4. The BJP managed to win one ward, while independents won 2 wards.