ODISHA

Govt sets up separate entity to deal with judicial infra

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The has created a separate entity, called theJudicial Infrastructure Management Agency(JIMA), in consultation withOrissahigh court for effective management of judicial infrastructure.

The office of JIMA, on the premises of the circle office of the Road and Building in Cuttack, was inaugurated on Wednesday by chief justiceS Muralidhar.
The idea of JIMA was mooted in the conference of chief justices in New Delhi in April. Buildings and residential quarters of judges and staff form an important component of judicial infrastructure.

Orissa HC likely to get new CJ

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The Supreme Court collegium has recommended the name ofJustice Subashis Talapatraas the new chief of the Orissa High Court. Currently, Justice Talapatra is serving as the senior-most judge of the Orissa high court. Justice Talapatra was elevated as a judge of theGauhati high courton November 15, 2011 and on establishment of a separate high court for the state of Tripura in 2013 he opted for the high court of Tripura as his parent high court. He has been functioning, on transfer, in the high court of Orissa since June 10, 2022.

On appointment, Justice Talapatra will become the 33rd chief justice of Orissa high court.

States forest cover growth third highest in country

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Odishas forest cover the extent of land covered by forest grew by 537 square km in the past two years, which is third highest among Indian states after Andhra Pradesh (647 sq km) and(632 sq km), the India State of Forest Report 2021 released on Thursday said.
The states increase in the past two years is double the increase in the two preceding years of 2017-2018 when it had gone up by 237 square km. Odishas forest cover has grown by a significant 1.04% in the past two years compared to the countrys Growth of 0.22% since 2019, the biennial report said.

Besides Odisha, Andhra Pradesh and Telengana, Karnataka and Jharkhand reported increase in the forest cover while other states showed a decline. Odisha now has forest cover over 51,156 of its 1,55,707 square km. The report attributed the growth in the five states to better conservation and protection measures, afforestation and agroforestry.

Odisha also met the national mandate of having at least one-third forest cover which is 33.50% compared to the national Average of 21.71%. Madhya Pradesh has the largest forest cover in the country followed by Arunachal Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Odisha and Maharashtra.
Out of the 30 districts of Odisha, the forest cover has decreased in Malkangiri, Dhenkanal,Sundargarh, Rayagada and Keonjhar while it has increased in the others. The survey said 1,134 square km non-forest land has perceptible forest cover.

Odisha saw eight square km rise in mangrove forests or salt-tolerant plant varieties along its coast, which is the highest among the states. Jagatsinghpur, Kendrapada and Balasore have recorded a rise in mangrove forests. The report attributed it to natural regeneration and plantation along banks of rivers near the estuary.

Similipalin Odisha has the second largest forest cover (2,562.86 square ) after Nagarjunsagar (2,932.95 square km) among the 52 Tiger Reserves in the country.

Govt to set up committee for Padampur dist soon:Naveen Patnaik

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The has decided to set up a high-level committee to start the process for the formation of a separate Padampur district as promised by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik during the campaign for the recent bypoll.

Former Law minister in the Biju Patnaik cabinet Narasingh Mishra said there is no need for taking the matter to the Assembly or form a District Reorganisation Commission. The new district can be announced simply by an executive order as was done by Biju Patnaik to increase the number of districts in the state from 13 to 30.

As the chief minister has said that the new Padampur district will be announced before 2023-end, the state government will no doubt form a committee to consider several district demands. In an election year, it will also benefit the ruling BJD to accede to the district demands of some other regions along with Padampur to keep a check on the Opposition.

There are demands for new districts from Rourkela in Sundargarh, Titlagarh in Balangir, Berhampur in Ganjam, Rairangpur in Mayurbhanj, Anandpur in Keonjhar, Gunupur in Rayagada, Talcher in Angul, Jaleswar and Soro in Balasore, Banki in Cuttack, Reamal tehsil in Deogarh, Dasapalla in Nayagarh and Bhubaneswar in Khurda. The Padampur district will have to be carved out from the Bargarh district.

Odisha to get 14 more cybercrime police stations

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The sanctioned the establishment of 14 new cybercrime Police stations at different places, including one each in Bhubaneswar and Cuttack. At present, the state has only four cyber police stations, one each inCuttack, Berhampur, Rourkela andSambalpur.

Sources said the police have also planned to set up a state-level body to oversee the functioning and performance of the the cyber police stations in the state. An IG-ranked officer will head the proposed cybercrime investigating agency.

PRARAMBHA: Policy for children launched

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A State Cabinet meeting held on Friday under the chairmanship of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik took 17 major decisions pertaining to the Departments of Odia Language, Literature and Culture; Skill development and Technical Education; Women and Child Development; Agriculture-notes-for-state-psc-exams”>Agriculture and Farmers’ Empowerment; General Administration and Public Grievances; Parliamentary Affairs; Planning and Convergence and Resources“>Water Resources.

The major decisions included approval of an Odisha State Policy for Children, 2022 called PRARAMBHA aimed at furthering childrens right to survival, protection, physical Health, mental health, education, participation and other milestones required for their optimal development and overall wellbeing.

The historic Odisha State Port Policy-2022 envisaging holistic development of maritime ecosystem in Odisha, promotion of private-sector development in maritime sector with an idea of #Kalingadvantage and creation of EMPLOYMENT opportunities for youths also received Cabinet approval.

Bhubaneswar: Tele consultations to help mentally-ill inmates in jails

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The prisons directorate is planning to launch telehealth and video consultations for mentally-ill jail inmates. A panel of psychiatrists from Bhubaneswar andCuttackwill be roped in for the service.

The prisons directorate has requested the Health department to consider the proposal on a priority basis as theOrissahigh court earlier asked the jail authorities to immediately address the issues of mental illness of prisoners.

The number of prisoners, suffering from mental illness, has been rising steadily in the state. This was revealed in the Prison Statistics India-2020 released by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB).

Odisha to adopt PM Gati Shakti

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The Odisha Government decided to adopt the PM Gati Shakti scheme for seamless multimodal connectivity of integration of various projects in the State.A meeting in this connection was held here under the chairmanship of Odisha Commerce and Transport Minister Padmanabha Behera.

The Minister reviewed various infrastructure projects in the State and suggested taking advantage of getting integrated with the PM Gati Shakti, the national Master Plan for seamless multimodal connectivity of integration of various infrastructures like roads, Ports, aviation, energy and telecom. With integration, the logistic cost for the manufacturing sector, allied sector and exports would be reduced, ensure quick turnaround time, increase competitiveness and help the goal of achieving 1 trillion dollar economy of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik.

Odisha to push Centre for second AIIMS at Sundargarh, says CM Naveen Patnaik

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Chief ministerNaveen Patnaik said the would follow up with the Centre for establishment of a second Aiims atSundargarh.

Sundargarh has a huge contribution in the development of the state. The boys and girls here have brought glory to the state and country. In honour of the contribution of Sundargarh, the state government has been continuously demanding establishment of second AIIMS at Sundargarh, said Naveen.

The state government on November 24, 2020, had written a letter to the Centre to establish a second AIIMS at Sundargarh by utilizing the Infrastructure, jointly developed by the state government andNTPCfor medical college and hospital, which is likely to be functional from the next academic year.

State announces fresh insurance cycle for farmers

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Thestate governmenthas decided to continue with afresh Insurance cycleunder the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) to protectfarmersfrom any crop loss due to weather uncertainties.
A resolution in this regard has been passed by the department of cooperation on Wednesday intimating the continuation of the insurance cycle for farmers from this kharif season to the rabi season of 2025-26.
Under PMFBY, the final yield of the farmer is insured along with losses due to prevented sowing, mid-season adversity, localised calamity and post-harvest damages. The scheme is implemented by insurance companies selected once in every three years by the state.

Farmers usually pay premium at two per cent of the sum insured for kharif and 1.5 per cent for rabi for all crops except commercial crops. The differential amount of the premium in the meantime is equally paid as subsidy by Centre and the .

This year, a fresh insurance cycle from kharif-2023 to rabi 2025-26 has been started and the state government has decided to continue with crop insurance. Four insurance companies have been selected through e-tender for this cycle, reads the resolution.