ODISHA

For the promotion of , the State Government on Tuesday signed an MoU with the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) to organise a series of events on millet.

FICCI will partner with the Department of A and FE for the organization of events on the eve of International Year of Millets (IYoM) 2023.

Notably, the UN General Assembly has declared the year 2023 as the International Year of Millets (IYOM) to promote millets globally. In this regard, the Odisha Millets Mission has planned to organise a series of activities to commemorate this opportunity and spread the importance and benefits of millets globally.

The Department will provide and facilitate necessary and incidental support to the industry body in terms of approvals, clearances, advisory and Resources for various activities and events, including review and monitoring of activities regularly.

The states ST and SC development department has launchedSchool Sanjog Programme, aninitiative of school on wheels for children, especially from the poor and vulnerable tribal group (PVTG) communities.
The initiative, a joint collaboration of the andUNICEF, aims to offer continued Learning experience to approximately 40,000 students in classes I-V in the PVTG communities in Keonjhar, Jajpur, Mayurbhanj, Angul, Gajapati,Rayagada, Kalahandi, Malkangiri, Kandhamal and Ganjam.

The lockdown, which led to the launch of virtual learning, denied Education to many students in the PVTG areas as they dont have access to smartphones or Internet.

TheDeogharropeway incident inJharkhandhas prompted the Centre to contemplate the possibility of coming up with a Model Ropeway Act outlining the responsibilities of all stakeholders, particularly the rope-way operators. Sources said since ropeways are part of the state list the Centre can at best come out with a model law that can work as a template for the states.

Meanwhile, there are reports that the ropeway project in Deoghar was commissioned in 2009 and it became operational in 2010. The concession period ended in 2020 and it was not renewed due to Covid conditions. The Jharkhand government has so far not denied these reports.

Wary of an alarming rise in road accident deaths inOdisha, theCentrehas urged chief ministerNaveen Patnaikto consider adopting a road safety model ofTamil Naduthat has succeeded in reducing accident fatalities by 54% in the last five years.

It must be noted that road accident-related deaths have increased by nearly 21% from 2014 (3,931 deaths) to 2019 (4,738 deaths) in the state. This despite theSupreme Courtcommittee on road safety directing the to bring it down by 50% by 2020. The fatality rate (death per hundred accidents) is about 48.2 % in Odisha in 2019, much higher than the national Average of 36.6%.

The number of accident deaths increased to 1877 between January and April this year from 1,471 during the corresponding months in 2020, taking the rise to a disturbing 27.60%. According to the transport department, the accident fatality rate increased abnormally by 25% in the first half this year as compared to the first six months of 2020, despite the Covid-induced lockdown.

Following strong resentment and opposition from various sections over the plan to shift the iconic Konark warrior horse statue from Master Canteen Square, theOdishagovernment has now changed its decision. The statue made by noted sculptor, lateRaghunath Mohapatra, will not be shifted from its original place. Rather, the statue will be repaired and the podium will be revamped.

TheBhubaneswar Smart City Limited(BSCL) had sought permission from the culture department to shift the statue from Master Canteen Square to Raj Bhawan Square to make way for development projects in the smart city. The said that due to various developmental projects coming up around the same place, the iconic horse statue is likely to lose visibility so it would be shifted in front of Raj Bhawan Square.

The 18ftx15ft statue made in Khandolite stone was installed in 1988 by the then chief minister Janaki Ballav Patnaik. However, due to lack of proper maintenance and exposure to sun and rain, the statue has become brittle.

The Aiims Bhubaneswar signed an MoU with the National Institute of Rehabilitation Training and Research (SVNIRTAR) Cuttack for academic, research and comprehensive rehabilitation care.

Dr Biswas said the two prominent national institutes would work on AIIMS referral patients like neurology, neurosurgery, orthopaedics, burn and plastic surgery, paediatrics, medicine in AIIMS and departments of SVNIRTAR like physiotherapy, occupational therapy, orthopaedics to improve healthcare and research in specialised areas.

The MoU also aims to design various short-term academic programmes in the form of fellowship, collaborative research, conduct symposia, colloquium, workshops, seminars and conferences on chosen topics and areas to train students in both the institutions.

ChamarajanagarDistrict Administration has initiated the process to set up a granite park on 130 acres of land at the Kellamballi Badanaguppe industrial area of Karnataka Industrial Areas Development Board (KIADB).

The process, which was delayed due to the pandemic, has now gained momentum following directions from the .

The district is known for black granites and has about 50 granite quarries and 12 granite cutting and polishing industrial units, but its expansion and Growth is hampered by lack of skilled labour.

The products of Chamarajanagar Granite Industries and others are exported to several countries like Japan, China, Indonesia. Bsides this, they also meet the demands of local domestic markets and other states.

The is planning to enact the Odisha Road Safety Act and appoint a senior Ias or Ips officer to exclusively look after road safety issues.

In a recent meeting chaired by development commissioner Pradeep Kumar Jena, the government asked the commerce and transport department to explore the feasibility of formulating the Road Safety Act. Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Gujarat have already enacted it. Besides, Kerala and Tamil Nadu have also appointed road safety commissioners. The creation of a road safety commissionerate or directorate in Odisha has been under consideration for quite some time.

The development assumes significance in the wake of road fatalities having increased by 21% from 2014 (3,931 deaths) to 4,738 deaths in 2019 despite The Supreme Court committee on road safetys direction to bring down the accident deaths by 50% by 2020. The fatality rate (death per 100 accidents) is about 48.2% in Odisha as compared to the national Average of 36.6%.