Vedanta managed to get mining lease but not Golden Peacock Award: British mining company Vedanta Resources, owned by billionaire Anil Agarwal, faced humiliation at the weekend as its ‘Golden Peacock’ award for environmental management and, after activists revealed details of the company’s highly polluting alumina refinery on the land of Kondh tribes in Orissa, India, the award was withdrawn the day before it was due to be handed over. HNF Bureau >>> Read More

Border lives in disorder: There seems to be big question mark as to when a war between Indio-Pak will break out. Yet, in this prevailing situation, as of now thousands of lives on Indo-Pak remain to become uncertain. Hectors and hectors of cultivable fertile land turn barren and vast cattle population get scattered.  Both in Pakistan and India the lives of border areas are disorder. After return of normalcy the lives at the border remain in a limbo for not less than 2 to 3 years. Despite all these trials and tribulation the border villagers show their happiness and glee in order to encourage the soldiers.  This is the most glorifying aspect that can be seen at the border. Bibhuti Bhushan Pati from the Indo-Pak borders >>> Read More

Eastern India Must not become a desert: The forests in eastern India are under a great deal of pressure.  Population pressure, a phrase widely used in Indian media, is often blamed as the single most important cause for the retreat of the forests.  I disagree with this view and would like to point out that Japan, where I live these days, despite having a population density of 339 per square km, which is higher, albeit marginally, than the population density of India at 336 per square km, has over 70 per cent of her total land area under forest cover, as opposed to a mere 20 per cent in India. Dr Nachiketa Das >>> Read More

Orissa becoming unsafe for women: The biggest question by the women of Orissa in general to CM Naveen Pattnaik is - what kind of development he talks about? How the development of women is possible in a state where women are not safe and where leadership is exploitative as in case of the tribal girl rape case of Bargarh? Sujata Mahapatra >>> Read More

India’s Bio-Diesel dream - The great Jatropha Scam in offing: Think if India’s dream of bio-diesel and the scheme of extensive jatropha cultivation would just go flop. What the farmers, who have been motivated to go for jatropha cultivation on waste lands and have been indulged in it, will do? They must have spent and worked on it. These farmers would be pushed into loan trap or forced to commit suicide if there is no yield or less yield. Editorial >>> Read More

Baniata Punji - The victim of poverty politics in India: Kalahandi has heard many declarations and promises. Huge amount of money came, but the district is still the poorest of the poor state Orissa. Klahandi has only become a ladder for politicians, bureaucrats and so called development professionals. But the district couldn’t see any major change even though 1000 crores of rupees have been poured into the State of Orissa in its name. Even the much publicized victim of poverty Banita Punji is still struggling to feed her husband and children. Banita still wanders, what happened after Sonia and Rajiv visited her paternal house? Why she had to pay for the selfish attitude of her brother’s wife? Basudev Mahapatra >>> Read More

Climate Change and Poverty are Inseparable: Both Sweden and Norway are following the principle of focusing; I mean, there should be a focus of the foreign aid. Sweden has focused on a more limited number of countries. We are focusing in a very different way on the broad development programs we try to run through U.N., World Bank and other global institutions that applies to education, to health, and all these broad sectors. … We are focusing our direct bilateral aid not on specific nations but in specific areas where we believe Norway has a specific competence. Oliver Subasinghe >>> Read More

When their sleepy puppets get an arena, poor families go festive in Badakodanda: Chaitanya Behera runs a small vegetable shop in the outskirt of Bhanjanagar town, near the Badakodanda chowk. A right-turn and three kilometer’s cycling, takes him to his village where he owns his two generations old ‘Ma Jagat Janani Kandhei (Oriya word for puppet) Theatre” which becomes operational during festival times only. Unlike others, he is not desperate about the bleak future of this folk-art. His troupe has only recently performed at Gosani Nua Gan in Berhampur during the last nine days long Rathyatra festival. Gurbir Singh >>> Read More

Research reveals Pacific Ocean threats and solutions: Widely applicable solutions include capacity building in ocean management, efforts to adapt to climate change and reduce overfishing, and using information technologies to monitor and share information, says Noah Idechong, a COS researcher from the Pacific Island of Palau. All should be high priority. Lisbeth Fog >>> Read More

Nobel Laureates Urge Action on Climate Change: Building on the Potsdam Memorandum and the recent advances in the scientific understanding of climate change, the participants of the St James’s Symposium identified as key requirements an effective and just global agreement on climate change, low-carbon energy infrastructure and tropical forest protection, conservation and restoration. HNF Bureau >>> Read More

Community Radio - Need of the hour: Taking ahead the attempts of Government towards success, few educational institutes have taken interest to set up Community Radio stations in different parts of India. Till date more than 200 applications are under consideration of the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting whereas more than 30 CRS are functional. But most of the functional community radio stations are established by different educational institutions & universities, whereas need of community based radio stations are in emerging need. N A Shah Ansari >>> Read More

Vedanta Alumina: A few smiles ruin the days of thousands: When the Vedanta Company came to Lanjigad the Govt of Orissa, District Administration and the Vedanta officials assured the local inhabitants that poverty would be alleviated. Agricultural production would increase. Irrigation, drinking water, health & sanitation, education & communication facilities would develop. The unemployed youths would get employment. The poor innocent villagers and tribals believed them. But, in reality, after few months the villagers have been taken for a jolly good ride. Bibhuti Bhusan Pati >>> Read More

Another Gandhi: Many call him Guruji or Sir. But he is more famous as Gandhi of koraput. When many people find Gandhian principles difficult to practice or irrelevant, Biswanath pattanayak still follows the footsteps of Gandhiji. After an intimate talk with this Gandhiji of Orissa, Subrat Swain tries to explore the reasons behind the claim. >>> Read More

Abandoned Cannon Worshipped as God: Amidst the sharp prickly thorns from the dangling branches of the overgrown shrubs and trees the names of which I don’t know, the not so beaten way up to the height where lay abandoned an antiquated, semi-rusted cannon of nineteenth century that is worshipped as a deity by the locals which include the tribals and general populace, was not very welcoming. Gurbir Singh >>> Read More

It's all part of the power game: Be it the new associations and dissociations or even the appeals, all these seem to be a part of the power game. Coalitions should be made on the basis of common issues and ideological similarity. But in India, ironically, alternative coalitions are being designed to fulfil the selfish interests of the parties and leaders instead of the issues that largely affect people and the national interests. Basudev Mahapatra >>> Read More

Health Risks of Genetically Engineered Foods: An independent study conducted by the Deccan Development Society in India has revealed symptoms of reduced food intake, swollen lips, frothy salivation, nasal discharge, bulging of head and deaths within 25 to 30 days of continuous Bt Cotton fodder consumption. Similarly in the state of Haryana a study has revealed that buffaloes suffered prolapsed uterus, premature deliveries, abortions, reduction in milk output and fat content, change in taste of milk, and sudden deaths after being fed Bt Cotton fodder and oil seed cakes for a regular period. Debjeet Sarangi & Jagannath Chatterjee >>> Read More

Industrialisation drive in Orissa needs space for tribals and farmers: Investment policies have been framed keeping the interest of Capitalists. Despite the net Gross Domestic Product is increasing at the rate of 5%, the rate of employment has gone down to 1.97%. But still industrialisation is glorified in the name of creating employment opportunities. Pravin Patel >>> Read More

Global Dimming - A trend dangerous than Global Warming: The twin effects of Global Warming and Global Dimming due to human pollution can be extremely disastrous. While global warming increases temperature due to the greenhouse gases, global dimming reduces sun’s intensity due to solid suspended pollutants. They can cause massive climatic change and catastrophic natural disasters like cyclones, droughts, floods, hurricanes etc. Pritish Pradhan >>> Read More

Rail-Link may pacify situation in Kandhamal: It is most unfortunate that in a poor and backward state like Odisha, development of rail network has received much less attention by Union Government in the post- Independence period. This is one of the main reasons for the backwardness of adivasis and other areas of Odisha who are backward partly because of the lack of connectivity and such neglect continue to keep them backward and prevent them from catching up from the mainstream. Er Lalit Pattnaik >>> Read More

Orissa Maoists divided on Communal Lines: What bothers Orissa police at the point is the amount of support IDGA is drawing from the tribal and Hindu communities of the State. After the success of the Bandh called by the anonymous organisation, now the tribal organisation ‘Kui Samaj’ of Kandhamal has declared its support to IDGA. Basudev Mahapatra >>> Read More

World Economic Meltdown – Orissa must re-strategise its industrial policy to minimise the After Effects: This is the right time for both people and government of Orissa to have an in-depth study whether the proposed 60 MoUs including POSCO, Vedanta and Tata Steel project in Kalinga Nagar will benefit the people of the state or they (the companies) will be struggling for financial revival at the end of the day. The Profit and Loss (P&L) account of these projects should be evaluated. Sai Prasan >>> Read More

Orissa Tourism – Long way ahead to touch the mark: Goa has made amazing progress marking the highest in the tourism sector. The government deserves applause for the way it has turned its natural assets into commercial endeavour, thus making huge revenues for the state. On the contrary, although Orissa has every potential to be a world-class tourist destination, the state stands nowhere among preferred sightseeing spots in the country. Lisa Pradhan >>> Read More