4620 phone tapped by State Govt in four years

BHUBANESWAR: The State Home Department has tapped landline phones and mobile phones of 4620 persons within four years from December 19, 2008 to September 15, 2012, revealed RTI information regarding phone tapping by the State Governemnt.

The RTI information exposed that the home department didn’t tap any phone from 2000 to 2006, whereas 111 telephones were tapped in 2007 and 313 telephones in 2008.

According to the RTI activist Biswapriya Kanungo, the person who has asked the information, said, “In which condition the Home Department has tapped a large number of telephones, the State Government should clarify about that as it violates the Right to Privacy under Article 21 of the Constitution.”

“What type of public emergency created or public safety question came to the fore for which reason the State Home Department tapped the telephones of the people,” Kanungo questioned. He alleged that the State Government is using the Home Department in the duty of phone tapping to record the conversation of advocates, journalists, opposition political leaders and social activists.

“Phone tapping without the knowledge of an innocent person is illegal, undemocratic, unconstitutional and violation of human rights,” said Kanungo.            

Over 100 students fall sick after eating mid-day meal

BRAHMAPUR: Over 100 students fell ill after eating mid-day meal at Balarampur Model School of Badakarida Panchayat under Purusottampur block in Ganjam district, 45 km from here, on Friday.

As many as 115 students were admitted to the Government hospital at Purusottampur after they complained of stomachache and nausea on Friday afternoon. The condition of two girl students Jhumuri Dakua and Mani Gauda was critical, the doctors said.

While eating the noon meal, a student found a dead spider and complained to the authorities of the school about the incident. Soon several students started vomiting. Many of them were rushed to the nearby hospital for treatment. Some of them were discharged by Friday evening. 

After getting information about the incident, Kabisuryanagar MLA V Sugyani Kumari Deo, local BDO Anam Charan Patra, Block chairman Minati Pradhan and other local political leaders rushed to the Government hospital to take the stock of the situation.

Medicine shops’ shifting from Capital Hospital campus opposed

BHUBANESWAR: The All Odisha Campus Chemists Association (AOCCA) has opposed the Capital Hospital authorities’ decision for shifting of campus medicine shops to a vending zone following the proposal of the State Health and Family Welfare Department to expand the hospital recently.

After the hospital expansion proposal, AOCCA member Akhaya Kishore Das said, the medicine shops were directed to shift the utility complex where small rooms have already been constructed. The accommodation of medicine shops in those tiny rooms with 10xl2 ft size wouldn’t serve their purpose, he added.

Das said the utility complex was far away from the causality of the hospital. In the vast area of the hospital, different departments stand at different places and the medicine shops also do so, he said, adding, “It becomes easy now for the patients to approach different shops freely to get their medicines, but, when all these medicine shops will be centralised in one place, it will cause a lot of congregation and problem of sanitation.”

Das further said the numbers of medicines in our country has exceeded more than 50,000 and varieties of medicines enter into market day by day according to the demands of rising population which requires a spacious room for accommodation. It is also essential that minimum two refrigerators are highly required for the preservation of weather proof medicines and with Air conditioner, he said, adding, “How is it possible that those tiny rooms can accommodate two freezes with minimum 15 sales boys to move freely for the service of the patients day and night?”

The AOCCA requested the hospital authorities to allow the medicine shops to stand at different directions of the campus with easy approach to the causalities and for which lands should be provided to the shop owners to build their medicine shops from their own funds.

Odisha Jan Rajniti Abhiyan to support green politics in State

BHUBANESWAR:  “To make the State free from all types of corruption and make it a well-developed State in the country, green politics is the need of the hour,” said Odisha Jan Rajniti Abhiyan (OJRA) convener and social activist Prafulla Samantara while addressing the mass at the first State convention of the campaign here on Friday.   

To give a political alternative to the State, a group of likeminded political forces and persons of three different social organisations have come together to form a political front, OJRA, a campaign for people-friendly politics, which would address various issues of the common people.

While presenting the agenda of the OJRA, Samantara said that their campaign would focus on corruption-free politics, exploitation-free economy, pollution-free environment and equality in society. The campaign would make aware the common people of the State to elect a good candidate of a right political party which could address the issues of the commonmen, he added.

The OJRA leaders including Odisha Jana Sammilani advisor Rabi Das and Jan Andolan leader Lingaraj said that they would bring all organisations, which are fighting for common men’s rights through people’s movements, under one umbrella and make a strong political front based on values. The State Government has failed to solve the problems of farmers and tribals, they added.

The leaders said corruption, oppression and irregularities in development projects are increasing day by day in the State. Looting of land, water, mines and forest has been increased since 1991, they added. Among others, Braja Kishore Tripathy, Panchanan Kanungo, Kishore Das, Prashant Mishra and Surendra Pradhan were present.

BJD supports TMC bid to bring no-confidence motion in Loksabha

--fails due to lower no of supporters

BHUBANESWAR: Three MPs from Biju Janata Dal (BJD) supported no-confidence motion moved by Trinamool Congress (TMC) in Lok Sabha on Thursday, but the motion was rejected by Speaker Meira Kumar as it could not gather the required support of 50 members.

On the first day of the Winter Session in the Parliament, the no-confidence motion against the Government over FDI in retail was moved by TMC Parliamentary Party leader Sudip Bandopadhyay and later it was supported by the BJD in the house. However, it lacked the support of the requisite numbers as only TMC’s 18 members and BJD’s three members Bhartruhari Mahatab, Prasanna Patsani and Kalikesh Singhdeo supported the motion.

“We supported TMC’s bid to bring no-confidence motion in the house as we have been protesting the Central Government’s decision to allow FDI in retail. I have given the notice on the behalf of BJD to discuss about the matter in the house,” said Mahatab.

Two Maoists surrender before Ganjam SP

BRAHMAPUR: Two Maoists surrendered before Ganjam SP Ashish Singh at District Police Headquarters Chatrapur on Thursday. They were identified as Samson Mallick and

Arun Sona Majhi of Dahusana and Gaheju village of Hatimunda GP under Bramhanigaon police station limit in Kandhamal district respectively, the police said.

While briefing the mediapersons, Singh confirmed that the two Maoists were working for Maoist leader Sabyasachi Panda. Samson was working as principal courier of Panda, he added. Earlier, they wanted to leave the Maoist camp, but they could not get success due to pressure and threat from their commander, the Maoists confessed.

“Rs 10,000 in cash are allocated to the Maoists immediately from the State Welfare Funds and Rs 3 lakh will be deposited in their accounts. They will get Rs 1.5 lakh immediately and the rest in phase wise. It will persuade other Maoist cadres more to bring them into the main stream,” Singh said.

The combing operations have been intensified in the tri-junction area of three neighbouring districts Ganjam, Gajapati and Kandhamal to nab the Maoist leader and his aides, Singh said.

Dalit land land issue: In time possession of land allotted for dalits demanded

BHUBANESWAR: The Orissa Dalit Adhikar Manch (ODAM), a forum of dalit organisations working on the issues relating to dalit community, on Thursday at a State-level convention on ‘Dalit Land Issues in Odisha’ demanded the Government to give in time possession of the land allotted for the Scheduled Caste people in the State. Later they handed over a memorandum to Revenue and Disaster Management Minister Suryanarayan Patro on land issues of dalit communities in the State.

Attending the convention, the Revenue Minister said the State Government has distributed land rights to 2, 68,000 landless people in the State. Recently, the Government has introduced a programme by which the land demarcation and distribution process would become easier than before, said Patra, adding, “An intermediary would work as a bridge between the Government and poor people while allotting the Government land in the name of the proper beneficiaries.”

He also said the intermediaries along with the local Revenue Inspectors would find out the Government lands in the particular area for the distribution among the landless poor. The intermediary would get Rs 4,000 per month, he said, adding, “We have started the work in 117 scheduled areas in the State.”          

During the discussion, ODAM coordinator Prashant Mallick said that majority of dalit families have no homestead Patta land to securely construct houses as a large majority of them were put up on the so called Government land or community land for generations which has not been recorded in their name as because there has been no survey and settlement initiative carried out by the revenue department.

He also demanded the ‘Vasundhara’ programme should be time bound and the beneficiaries should be given patta and possession at the same time, because many of the families have patta for last few years and still they have not received the possession. He also alleged that dalits access to natural resources like forest and water bodies were increasingly being restricted by dominant caste and communities in the respective areas.