Blood bank 'lapse' claims boy's life
The Red Cross blood bank in Cuttack
Bijay Behera, a resident of Nimapara, said his son Dilip, who was suffering from gastrointestinal bleeding, was referred to SCB Medical College and Hospital from Bhubaneswar
On Tuesday evening, he went to Red Cross to collect blood but they refused to do so. "Life of my son could have been saved if the Red Cross authorities had provided blood. They had assured me to give two units of blood on Tuesday. I collected one unit in the morning and again went to collect the second unit in the evening. But they refused to give me the unit, citing lack of donor," alleged Behera, who owns a grocery shop.
"Due to unavailability of blood, condition of my son deteriorated and he died. The Red Cross blood bank authorities not only refused to provide blood to me but also misbehaved with me. I appealed to the officials to help me as my son was very serious but it did not yield any result," he added.
Red Cross blood bank authorities have rubbished the allegations. "We had provided two units of blood to Bijay Behera on February 26 and February 28 without any exchange. He was neither denied blood nor any official of the blood bank misbehaved with him," said Judhistir Dora, a doctor at the Red Cross blood bank.
SCB authorities have said five units of blood were administered to Dilip since February 26 and all these were provided without any donor. "The patient's condition was critical as he was suffering from gastrointestinal bleeding. Looking at his condition, the blood bank in SCB hospital had provided three units of blood to him without any donor," said Dr B N Moharana, emergency officer of SCB hospital.
Restless’ Posco blames Odisha govt for project delay
Posco on Thursday blamed the Odisha government for delay in lifting police restrictions on entering its steel project site in Jagatsinghpur and accentuated the need to resume infrastructure and other works at the earliest. For the first time since signing an MoU with the state government in June 2005 for setting up a 12 million tonne per annum (MTPA) unit near Paradip, the South Korean steel giant directly held the government responsible for the time overrun for its proposed steel plant, indicating its growing restlessness over goings-on. This followed police on Thursday asking the company to shift its venue for a seminar from its project site at Nuagaon to its office in Paradip.
"Posco-India would like to express its deep regrets that the police has not lifted the restriction on entering the site although we have requested several times since December 2011 to prepare for this seminar and also proceed with the land works such as removal of betel vines and cutting the trees, etc," a company release quoting Posco-India CMD Yong-Won Yoon said. The delay could lead to about 20% cost escalation for the project, initially estimated at $12 billion, he added.
At the seminar, Yong requested the state government to start construction of the coastal road (stopped since violence led to a death in December) and lift restrictions on entering the site soon. He also expressed disappointment over important people related with the project such as chief minister Naveen Patnaik and chief secretary Bijay Patnaik not attending the seminar, which, he said, can be interpreted as a "negative indicator for the project".
Despite blaiming the state government for the deay in the Posco project, the South Korean steel major said Odisha project is its priority.
"The project has been delayed by a multiplicity of factors beyond our control. We have waited with patience for over six years after the MOU was signed with the Odisha government. We are ready to wait further because the company is still prioritising the Odisha project," a news agency quoted Posco-India CMD Yong-Won Yoon as saying.
According to Yong, though Posco prepared for the seminar at the Nuagaon project site office opened in December, the company had to unwillingly shift the venue to its HRD Centre atParadip due to restrictions on entry to the site because of security concerns.
"Because the HRD Centre, inaugurated in 2010 for training employees, is located 13 km far from the site office, the attendees of the seminar were not able to see the current progress on the land," he rued. The company release said since October 2005, when it applied for land for the steel project, Posco acquired the environmental clearance (in Aug, 2007), the Supreme Court's approval for forest diversion (Aug, 2008), the central government's re-approval for building integrated steel plant (Jan, 2011) and the Centre's final approval for forest diversion (May, 2011).
"However, though the betel vine removal and tree cutting in the government land resumed since May 2011, land acquisition by state government has come to a halt due to the strong protest by the anti-project people," it added.
Posco's reaction came days after the Odisha government said it had asked the company to prepare a detailed project report (DPR) for its proposed captive port at Jatadhari near
"The state government will evaluate Posco-India's port DPR and ensure CWPRS suggestions are properly implemented," commerce and transport minister Sanjeev Sahoo had said in the Assembly.
Earlier, CWPRS had prepared a study on the possible adverse impact of Posco's proposed port on the existing port at Paradip. At the seminar, attended by the commercial attache of Korean embassy, Yoon said the project would be implemented and explained the progress to equipment suppliers and construction companies. The company said once at least 2700 acre of land out of the total 4004 acre is handed over, it can start land preparation and begin the main construction in early 2013. It plans to operationalise the first phase of four MTPA steel facility in 2016
Caste panel chief blames cops for Lathore violence
The National Commission for Schedule Caste (NCSC) chairman, P L Punia, on Sunday visited Lathore, where upper caste people had allegedly burnt 40 dalit houses last month.
Punia blamed the district police for allegedly giving "a free run to the perpetrators to carry out their evil motives." He added: "The incident could have been averted if police had wanted to do so. This is one of the most shameful incidents in independent India
Expressing solidarity with the victims, the NCSC chairman said he would take up the matter with chief minister Naveen Patnaik. "It was an organized attack on the dalit community. I would discuss the matter with the chief minister," he said.
Punia reached Lathore by a helicopter at 9.30 am. He was accompanied by the regional director of NCSC, Dibakar Basak, DIG (Northern range) R P Koche, SP (Balangir) R Prakash, collector S N Dey and other officials. He visited a relief camp, where 196 dalit victims have put up. He also visited the dalit colony which was ransacked.
Earlier, Basak had visited Lathore and interacted with the victims, sought important documents from the police and sympathised with the refugees in the camps. Basak had also attributed the incident to lack of swift action by police.
According to police, 49 people have been arrested so far. They admitted that the two main accused -- Jagadish Agrawal and Ghasiram Agrawal - were absconding after the incident. Sources said Jagadish runs a petrol filing station and Ghasiram owns a country liquor manufacturing unit. Jagadish's house is adjacent to the dalit basti and he allegedly provided petrol to set the houses afire. Ghasiram allegedly provided liquor to the rioters for ransacking the houses. The incident is said to be the fallout of a scuffle at a cloth store owned by an upper caste person.
High Court asks State to file fresh affidavit in dal scam
The High Court has refused to accept the latest affidavit filed by the State government in response to its order arising out of a PIL pertaining to dal scam in the State. Instead, the State government has been asked to file a fresh affidavit detailing about the drinking water facilities made available to anganwadi centres and the case is posted to March 28 for further hearing.
The Division Bench of Chief Justice V. Gopala Gowda and Justice B.N. Mohapatra last week rejected the affidavit filed by the State Women and Child Development Secretary Arati Ahuja and asked the official to file a fresh affidavit stating as to what steps the government has made to provide drinking water facilities in about 9,543 anganwadi centres in the State. The State government however had filed a miscellaneous case in the court urging it modify its earlier order stating that the government is entitled to provide drinking water facilities to at least 3,454 centres and not 9,543 centres as mentioned in the HC order. The State government in its petition has pointed out that as per the government provisions, drinking water facilities like boring tube wells would be provided to those centres which do not have any tube well in the 250 mts radius from the centre. However, alleging the State government action amounts to contempt of court as the previous orders of the government has not yet been carried out, the petitioner Dilip Mohapatra insisted on initiation of contempt of court proceedings against the concerned respondents of the case.
P L Punia seeks arrest of Pipili MLA
Chairman of the National Commission for Scheduled Castes (NCSC) P L Punia on Monday demanded arrest of Pipili legislator Pradeep Maharathy for allegedly shielding those accused in the rape of a dalit girl in his constituency on November 28, 2011.
Punia alleged that Prashant Pradhan, the main accused in the case, had taken shelter at Maharathy's farm house in Pipili as he had a "good relationship" with the former minister. "Maharathy was an equal partner in the crime. He should be arrested and put behind the bars," Punia told mediapersons here. Punia also demanded criminal cases should be registered against policemen and doctors who neglected the girl.
Punia, who visited SCB medical college and hospital, Cuttack
Maharathy, who resigned as the agriculture minister on January 19 following allegations of his harbouring those accused in the rape case, was not available for comments.
Maharathy, during a debate in the state Assembly last month, had said the girl had not been raped or gang-raped and he would resign as MLA if he is proved wrong. On January 19, Maharathy, a five-time MLA, had claimed innocence and told TOI, "I have nothing to do with the incident. The allegations against me are completely baseless and politically motivated. I never sheltered any accused and came to know about the incident only after it appeared in the media on January 7."
The crime branch of state police, which is investigating into the case, had in January arrested four persons, including Prashant, for allegedly raping and attempting to murder the girl, whose father is a daily wage labourer and worked for Prashant.
Chargesheet in Pipli rape case submitted
The Odisha police probing the alleged gangrape of a 19-year-old dalit girl of Pipli today submitted chargesheet against prime accused Prashant Pradhan and his associate Sukanta Pradhan but said the allegation of rape could not be substantiated.
The allegation could not be substantiated because the girl was unable to give any statement as she was in coma since the attempt on her life on November 29 last year, the Crime Branch of the police said in the chargesheet submitted to a magisterial court in Pipili.
A Crime Branch release said the case was being kept open to examine the victim when she is able to give a statement and also to examine the criminal liability of local police and doctors who allegedly tried to screen the accused and neglected in giving proper treatment to her.
Pradhan was charged section 341 (wrongful restraint), 354 (assault to outrage modesty), 307 (attempt to murder), 506 (criminal intimidation) and 34 (common intention) of IPC and several other charges under SC and ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.
Prashant’s younger brother Sukant had no direct role in attacking the victim on the day of the incident but had threatened the girl's family members.
It said investigations revealed Prashant had an intimate relationship with the victim but later developed a sense of betrayal and wanted to kill her as she was avoiding him.
"On the day of the incident, Prashant used the odhani (dupatta) of the victim to strangulate her," it said.
The release said two other arrested persons Gurna Chandra Swain and Premananda Nayak had no role in the incident of November 29 but there was evidence against them for threatening the victim's family members in the context of an earlier case of 2008 where she was a witness and the two were the accused.
A separate FIR was registered against Swain and Nayak on February 28.
Homeless to get land by March end
The Odisha government will provide homestead land to all homeless people in the state by March 31, revenue minister Surya Narayan Patro said here on Tuesday.
Speaking to reporters after chairing a meeting of the additional district magistrates (ADMs), the minister said the government will give four decimal homestead land to each of the homeless families. "The ADMs were asked to identify the beneficiaries on a priority basis and complete the allocation work by March 31," he said.
After the government officers' raised concern about the illegal constructions of places of worship along highways and public places, the government also decided to demolish all such encroachments by the same deadline. tnn
The minister asked the ADMs to complete the pending mutation work. Construction of revenue inspectors' offices, issuing of caste, nativity and income certificates to school students, biennial review of bench mark valuation of land, among others, issues were discussed at the meeting.
The state will prepare an action plan for solving the land problems of Scheduled Castes andScheduled Tribes and other economically weaker sections, a government statement said.
Caste panel chief blames cops for Lathore violence
The National Commission for Schedule Caste (NCSC) chairman, P L Punia, on Sunday visited Lathore, where upper caste people had allegedly burnt 40 dalit houses last month.
Punia blamed the district police for allegedly giving "a free run to the perpetrators to carry out their evil motives." He added: "The incident could have been averted if police had wanted to do so. This is one of the most shameful incidents in independent India
Expressing solidarity with the victims, the NCSC chairman said he would take up the matter with chief minister Naveen Patnaik. "It was an organized attack on the dalit community. I would discuss the matter with the chief minister," he said.
Punia reached Lathore by a helicopter at 9.30 am. He was accompanied by the regional director of NCSC, Dibakar Basak, DIG (Northern range) R P Koche, SP (Balangir) R Prakash, collector S N Dey and other officials. He visited a relief camp, where 196 dalit victims have put up. He also visited the dalit colony which was ransacked.
Earlier, Basak had visited Lathore and interacted with the victims, sought important documents from the police and sympathised with the refugees in the camps. Basak had also attributed the incident to lack of swift action by police.
According to police, 49 people have been arrested so far. They admitted that the two main accused -- Jagadish Agrawal and Ghasiram Agrawal - were absconding after the incident. Sources said Jagadish runs a petrol filing station and Ghasiram owns a country liquor manufacturing unit. Jagadish's house is adjacent to the dalit basti and he allegedly provided petrol to set the houses afire. Ghasiram allegedly provided liquor to the rioters for ransacking the houses. The incident is said to be the fallout of a scuffle at a cloth store owned by an upper caste person.
41 p.c. of bonded labourers in State come from KBK region
By the end of 2010-11, 50,792 bonded labourers were identified in State: survey
The KBK districts, which are regarded as a backward region of the country, have contributed 41 per cent to the total bonded labourers in the State.
According to the latest Economic Survey, by the end of 2010-11, 50,792 bonded labourers including 13,904 from scheduled caste and 20,424 Scheduled Tribe communities were identified in the State.
“Of the 50,792 bonded labourers, 49,013 were released and out of them 47,056 including 13,121 SCs and 18,369 STs were rehabilitated ,” the survey says.
The rehabilitation of bonded labourers has, however, been a controversial issue.
As there is inadequate leasable government land and homestead land available, rehabilitation of released bonded labourers has hit roadblock in different districts.
No improvement
Although the State government directed district administration to provide agricultural land to released bonded labourers no visible improvement in condition of these hapless population has been noticed.
During past five years, about 1,500 migrant labourers belonging to Orissa were released from Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu .
However, many of the bonded labourers are yet to be meaningfully rehabilitated.
According to Umi Daniel of Migration information & Resources Centre (MiRC), of the 700 bonded labourers were identified by the State government in 2002 in Malkangiri district, only 17 people were rehabilitated under the Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act, 1976 due to intervention of NHRC.
According to the economic survey, unemployment has been estimated at 14.13 lakh person years at the beginning of 2007-08.
The annual growth rates of labour force and the work force have been estimated as 1.38 per cent and 1.55 per cent respectively and the projected end-of-the-year unemployment rate has been estimated as 8.76 per cent in 2011-12 against 9.37 per cent in 2007-08.
· During past five years, about 1,500 migrant labourers belonging to Orissa were released
· The projected end-of-the-year unemployment rate has been estimated as 8.76 per cent in 2011-12
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