Anna supporters’ indefinite dharna begins

BHUBANESWAR: Amid continual rain, Anna supporters on Wednesday thronged to the Lower PMG square where India Against Corruption members were staging indefinite dharna to demand an investigation against corruption charges leveled against 14 Cabinet ministers. Once again the Dharna place echoed with ‘Bharat mata ki jay’ and ‘Inquilab Zindabad’ slogans of the supporters of anti-graft movement.  

Supporting anti-graft crusader Anna Hazaare and his team’s indefinite fast in New Delhi, India Against Corruption (IAC) Odisha chapter staged statewide dharna from Wednesday. According to the IAC, the fresh demand will go side by side during the dharna with the long-standing demands including strong Jan Lokpal Bill and appointment of Jan Lokayuktas in the States.

According to Nisikant Mahapatra, a member of the IAC Odisha who sat in hunger fast at the Lower PMG here said that it is our ‘Do or Die’ movement to bring change in the country. Among others, Gayatri Das and Santosh Panda also sat in indefinite fast till the achievements of the demand of setting up of a Special Investigation Team (SIT) against corrupt ministers.

Unemployment rapidly increasing in State: Yuva Utkal Bharat

BHUBANESWAR: Demanding employment for the youths of the State, Yuva Utkal Bharat (YUB) staged demonstration in front of the Director State Employment Exchange office here on Wednesday. Later, the youth wing of the Utkal Bharat party led by its president Abhishek Joshi handed over a memorandum to the Chief Minister through the Employment Exchange Director.

In their memorandum, the YUB members said unemployment is a major problem in the State. Due to lack of job in the State, most of the youths, especially from western Odisha, migrate to other State in search of job. Only 35, 334 youths were employed out of 1, 34, 85,236 registered under different employment exchange offices in the State within 12 year, the members added.

The Chief Minister had promised to employ three lakh students per year which was eyewash, the members said. Thousands of vacancies are available in the Government sector, but the State Government is not active to fill up that, they added.

Among others, State Vice-president Sanatan Dalabehera, General Secretary Debabrata Tripathy, Kumari Bijaylaxmi Mohanty and the party members were present.

US Deputy Secretary of Defense Ashton B Carter concludes India visit

U.S. Ambassador to India Nancy Powell (left) and Hyderabad Consul General Katherine Dhanani (right) look on as Deputy Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter greets B.V.R. Mohan Reddy, Chairman and Managing Director of Infotech Enterprises in Hyderabad on July 24.

New Delhi/Hyderabad: As part of his first official trip to the Asia-Pacific region as Deputy Secretary of Defense, Dr. Ashton B. Carter visited India July 22-25.  During this visit, he discussed with key Government of India officials and defense industry leaders how the United States and India can work more closely together to ensure security and prosperity in the 21st century.

Deputy Secretary Carter’s meetings followed through on Secretary Panetta’s visit to India last month when the Secretary made clear that we must work to deepen our security partnership – so that our relationship becomes more strategic, more practical, and more collaborative.  One of Secretary Panetta’s initiatives that Deputy Secretary Carter discussed in New Delhi was further leading an effort, along with Indian counterparts in the Ministry of Defense and the Ministry of External Affairs, to make our respective bureaucratic processes simpler, more responsive, and more effective to increase defense trade and cooperation. 

The Deputy Secretary also met with Indian defense industry executives in Hyderabad to discuss practical next steps for streamlining bureaucratic barriers in both the U.S. and India.  He toured several promising Indo-U.S. facilities co-producing transport plane and helicopter components.

As reaffirmed during the recent June 2012 U.S.-India Strategic Dialogue, the defense relationship between our two countries is an important dimension of our strategic partnership.  The United States is committed to finding innovative ways to increase our defense cooperation with India and to identify opportunities to take an already strong defense relationship to the next level.  Deputy Secretary Carter’s visit reinforced the message that our countries have crossed a threshold in our relations where our successes at home and abroad are strengthened by our defense cooperation, and that there is greater potential and areas of cooperation that can be tapped in the overall U.S.-India partnership.

Farmers to get Rs 675 crore as cross loss compensation

BHUBANESWAR: The farmers of the State would get Rs 675 crore 32 lakh as crop loss compensation under the National Agricultural Insurance Scheme (Rashtriya Krishi Bima Yojna). The State Government has also sanctioned Rs 277 crore 72 lakh as their share. Due to the Crop Insurance Scheme, 5, 71,000 farmers of the State, who were affected during the flood last year, would be benefited. It may be noted that the State Government has taken the Gram Panchayats as crop insurance unit which will help the farmers to get good amount of compensation money. 

Anna supporters to sit in indefinite dharna today

BHUBANESWAR: Supporting anti-graft crusader Anna Hazaare and his team’s indefinite fast in New Delhi to demand an investigation against corruption charges leveled against 14 Cabinet ministers, Anna supporters led by India Against Corruption (IAC) Odisha chapter would stage statewide dharna on Wednesday.

The members of IAC and supporters of anti-corruption movement, according to their preparation, organised a procession around the capital city on Tuesday. The procession was started from Vani Vihar square and ended at KIIT square by passing different prominent places of the city to make aware about the Wednesday’s dharna.

According to the IAC, the fresh demand will go side by side during the dharna with the long-standing demands including strong Jan Lokpal Bill and appointment of Jan Lokayuktas in the States. The Anna team called upon the supporters for a ‘Do or Die’ movement again to bring change in the country, it added.

Three volunteers Nishikanta Mohapatra, Gayatri Das and Santosh Panda will be on indefinite fast till the achievements of the demand of setting up of a Special Investigation Team (SIT) against corrupt ministers.

Crime Branch freezes bank account of Sai Pragati

BHUBANESWAR: The Crime Branch police on Tuesday froze 14 bank accounts of two fraud companies Sai Pragati Assets and Properties (SPAP) and S Virgin Worldwide Concept and attached Rs 2, 71, 35,193 from the companies’ bank account. The Crime Branch is investigating into the companies’ secret investment in other States or share market, police sources said.

The Economic Offence Wing of the Crime Branch seized the money from four bank accounts of the two allied companies. “Our team is investigating into the matter. If we get any information about the companies’ money deposited or invested anywhere, we would freeze that account immediately,” said an official of the Crime Branch police.

The police had arrested Sai Pragati and S Virgin’s CMD Debasish Mohanty for cheating the investors of his company and one of the associate directors of the companies Surath Kumar Sahoo surrendered before the court in the case.    

“Many accounts are there to seize,” said an investor of the company Aniruddha Mahapatra adding, “we again start public protest against the fraud company. The companies cheated the investors, so the Government should take appropriate action against the cheaters and fraudulent companies,” he added.

It may be noted that the investors on March 15 this year staged a dharna at Lower PMG here demanding a high level inquiry into the Real Estate fraud case. In their memorandum to the Chief Minister on the day, they had urged him to intervene into the matter.

In that memorandum, the investors had alleged that CMD Debasish Mohanty, Associate Directors Nirmal Prasad Padhy, Ashwin Kumar Das, Surath Kumar Sahoo and Kamalakant Patnaik of the company were involved in the cheating of Rs 600 crore from its investors. More than 85,000 investors were affected due to the fraud, they had alleged.

No double PG from this year in Utkal Univ

BHUBANESWAR: The PG Council of Utkal University on Monday decided to strictly follow their rule to not allow a Post Graduate student to take admission in another PG course in the university from this year, said university PG Council chairman Prof Prafulla Kumar Mishra.

According to Prof Mishra, most of the students of the university after completion of a PG course, they again join in another PG course to stay easily in the hostel which creates problems inside the campus. Even some students sell their hostel room after getting the room in second term PG period, he added.

“If one student joins in many courses in the university, other fresh graduate students won’t get a seat as the first one would acquire the seat,” said Prof Mishra adding, “The students who have pursuing in double PG degrees, some of them indulge themselves in ragging and criminal activities which creates disturbance among the other innocent students,” he added.

On the other hand, some students of the university opposed the decision of the authority. They advocated that to get education is the right of a person, how the authority could stop it. We will move to the court against the decision of the university, said a student who applied for the double PG this year.