ODISHA

With different food safety measures, Odisha has kept up its upward movement in the national food safety index from the 26th position in 2018-19 to 13th in 2019-20 and further to the 4th position in 2020-21.

This was known at a State-level food safety advisory committee meeting held on Wednesday wherein Additional Chief Secretary Raj Kumar Sharma outlined the issues for discussion.

Mahapatra directed the department to orient and train the street food vendors on preparation of safe food. He directed that the food vendors must be made aware about the dangerous effect of adulterated food on human Health.

He also directed to strengthen enforcement activities against the adulterated food. Adulterated food sale is a criminal activity like selling adulterated medicine and it must be dealt mercilessly, he stated.

The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) has denied permission to silver-plating of the Garuda Stambha (holy pillar on which Lord Garuda is sitting) citing a technical reason.

The ASI said the silver-plating would further harm the Garuda Stambha and the department is mulling to provide support to it by a steel frame for its preservation.

The entire controversy came to Light following a donation of Rs 1.3 croreto the Jagannath Temple from a West Bengal-based industrial house. The corporate house has expressed its eagerness to spend the amount towards silver-plating of the Garuda Stambha.

In its endeavour to create a global brand of yogasana as a competitive sport with high standards and benchmarks and supporting Indias vision to make yogasana a sport with an Olympic roadmap, the NYSF, recognised by the Union Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, is consistently building a strong culture of fitness, competition, wellbeing, and Growth through the practice and development of yogasana.

Yogasana sport for both male and female categories has been included in the Khelo India Youth Games, 2021.

Formed in December 2020, the NYSF has significantly and rapidly gained momentum and successfully launched the first National Yogasana Championships in a short span of three months.

The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) has slammed the state of higher Education in Odisha in its recent report tabled in the assembly.

The report said gross enrolment ratio (GER) of 22.1% in Odisha between 2014 and 2019 is below the national Average of 26.30%. It slammed the for not devising specific plan to improve the ratio.

Despite SC/ST Population comprising around 40% of the states total population, the report said the GER and gender parity index of SC/ST categories remained below the national average.

The CAG also pointed out poor functioning of career counselling cells inUtkal University(UU),North Odisha University(NOU) and 32 known degree colleges. It said there was less than optimal functioning or complete absence of placement and career counselling cells and job fairs in these institutions while amount released to organize the job fair remained unutilized.

On an average 26.10% students of UU and 3.79% students of NOU could get placements through placements cells/job fairs between 2014 and 2019. UU and NOU had facilitated placement of 1,089 and 70 students, respectively, through job fairs during the period, said the CAG in its report.

While three companies L&T, Shapoorji Pallonji and NCC Ltd have participated in the bidding process for the clinical block, Tata Projects along with the above three are in the race for implementation of the residential block.

Since target has been set for completion of the first phase redevelopment project of the premier healthcare centre by January 2024, the state works department has fast-tracked various work like re-routing of electrical lines, shifting of overhead tanks, demolition of vacated buildings and cutting and transplantation of trees.

The has also decided to shift the SCB medical public school, currently located within the campus, to a place near OMP square for which 2.5 acres of land has been identified.
According to official sources, the Rs 3,500 crore-redevelopment plan of the oldest medical college and hospital in the state, established in 1944, will be implemented in two phases. A target has been set to develop a 3,500-bed facility in the first phase while number of beds will be enhanced to 5,000 in the second phase.

Around Rs 500 crore has been earmarked for SCBs redevelopment project during the 2021-22 financial year. State-of-the-art Infrastructure, which will be taken up in the first phase, include staff quarter complex for over 1,280 people, three hostel buildings for around 2200 students, a stadium and various departments.

The on Tuesday approved five Investment proposals in the Metal sector worth Rs 1.46 lakh crore with an aim to double steel production in the state over the next few years. While the states existing steel-making capacity is about 30 mtpa, the high-level clearance authority led by chief ministerNaveen Patnaikapproved another 27.5 mtpa capacity. All five approved proposals are expansion of existing facilities.

The approved projects include expansion ofBhushan Power and SteelLimiteds (BPSL) plant from 5 mtpa to 15 mtpa. Around Rs 55,000 crore will be invested in the expansion project located at Rengali in Sambalpur while it is expected to generate EMPLOYMENT opportunities for over 10,000 people.

Nearly six years after dedication of the first phase of Tata Steels plant at Kalinganagar in Jajpur district, the companys proposal for its expansion from 3 mtpa to 8 mtpa got the governments nod.Tata Steelwould invest Rs 47,599 crore in the expansion project and set up several other ancillary units to generate over 4,600 jobs. The chief minister had dedicated the companys 3 mtpa plant in November 2015. The panel also approvedJindal Steeland Power Limiteds revised expansion plan of its Angul plant from 6 mtpa to 25.2 mtpa to make it the largest single location steel plant in the world.

TheOdishaPower Transmission Corporation Limited (OPTCL) has introduced drone-based survey of its transmission corridor to detect the fault in the lines and take up immediate repair and maintenance to restore the supply in any particular area.

Earlier, the towers or the power lines were being surveyed traditionally, which has a number of limitations. These can be avoided by adapting trending technologies for which the drone-based survey system has been introduced.

The drone-based survey will be taken up regularly along the transmission corridors.

Chief ministerNaveen Patnaikon Tuesday announced a financial package for urbanstreet vendorswhose livelihood has been affected due to lockdown in the second wave ofCovid-19. Financial assistance worth Rs 26.29 crore to be disbursed from the Chief Ministers Relief Fund (CMRF) is likely to help over 87,657 street vendors in urban centres.

There are around two lakh street vendors in the state but as per the survey of municipalities, a letter of recognition (LoR) has been issued to 87,675 vendors.

The Odisha Mission is taking major strides in collaborating with restaurants and chefs to promote Odishas millets.

The efforts of bringing the millets from farm to plate are on the rise as the State Government is taking various initiatives to promote the consumption of millets. One such drive is seen at the Millet Food Festival.
The Odisha Millet Mission, along with Michaels Kitchen, a fine-dining restaurant in Bhubaneswar, is organising the Millet Food Festival to commemorate the International Year of Millets 2023. The 15-day festival, scheduled from May 5 to 20, features various organic national and international dishes, with millets as the lead ingredient.
The festival also featured a master class from May 7 to 11. The master class aimed at orienting how to manage a restaurant and how new dishes and food items can be made from millets. The session was attended by Mission Shakti WSHGs to learn how to manage their own businesses.

Chief ministerNaveenPatnaik announced a three-month door-to-door survey by ASHAs and anganwadi workers from May 24 to trace people suspected of having Covid in the wake of the rising infections in villages. He has also announced the formation of a task force for Oxygen management, the mainstay of medical care in the ongoing pandemic.

The CM said the government will pay extra incentives of Rs 1,000 per month to ASHAs for the three-month drive and Rs 10,000 one-time aid to buy bicycles, cupboards, slippers, umbrellas and torches since they will also have to monitor those recuperating in Home isolation. The move comes amid a government analysis that 57% infections in the state this month were from villages.
Naveen said community involvement has been one of the main pillars of the states Covid management and announced Rs 10,000 per Gaon Kalyan Samitis (village-level committees) for undertaking Covid-related activities at the village-level involving the local communities. For this, the state would have to incur an expenditure of Rs 46 crore for the 46106 GKS.