BARIPADA: Forest officials are all set for this year’s elephant census. It will be conducted simultaneously in Balasore and Mayurbhanj districts besides West Bengal, Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand between June 1 and June 3. The synchronised census has been aimed at averting the overlap since pachyderms migrate across boundaries in search of fodder and water.

Regional Chief Conservator of Forests(RCCF) Anup Nayak said this time two traditional methods would be adopted to count the elephants.

BHUBANESWAR: Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Tuesday requested the Centre to clear several pending projects in the irrigation sector in view of their significance for the tribal and backward regions and areas affected by left wing extremism (LWE). The Chief Minister met the Union Minister for Water Resources Pawar Kumar Bansal in New Delhi and took up the matter.

Bhubaneswar: An alert was sounded along the Odisha coast on Wednesday with warnings issued to fishermen and people following the massive earthquake off Sumatra coast. The alert was issued to the administration in six districts - Balasore, Bhadrak, Jagatsinghpur, Kendrapada, Ganjam and Puri, Special Relief Commissioner (SRC) P K Mohapatra said.

Though there is no cause for worry, the government may take steps to evacuate people in some coastal areas if necessary due to the possibility of high tides, he said adding people, particularly tourists, have been asked to remain watchful.

BHUBANESWAR: Balasore district is all set to lay the course for achieving increased agricultural productivity and consequent income enhancement for the farmers. A massive exercise will soon go underway in the district to change the dynamics of agriculture by empowering the farmers with latest technology inputs and implements, quality seeds and appropriate cropping strategies.

BALASORE: Residents of at least seven villages in Balgopalpur area in Balasore district have accused the authorities of Balasore Alloys Limited (BAL) of illegally acquiring their land for its proposed expansion project. The land losers alleged that the plant management has purchased the land at a cheaper price through a local contractor on the pretext of providing employment to at least one member of each family.

BALASORE: The summer is likely to pinch the Balasore farmers hard this time. With no measures taken yet to repair the defunct lift irrigation projects (LIPs) the farmers are apprehensive of bad crop. As many as 1,043 lift irrigation projects out of 2,147 have gone defunct. The State Government has literally failed to provide irrigation facilities to the non-irrigated areas.

Emami Paper Mills Ltd is hopeful of getting environmental and water clearances for its Rs 1,600 crore proposed expansion project at Balasore in Odisha by the end of this year.

The company had earlier announced its plans to set up a 1, 85,000-tonnes a year wood-based pulp and paper mill at its existing plant site at Balasore.

According to Mr R.C. Mall, Director, Emami Paper Mills, 100 per cent of the paper produced by the company currently comes from recycled wastes.

The new capacity will use wood pulp sourced from the company's own plantation.

BALASORE: The injections, which you take hoping that it would cure you of diseases might just prove fatal. In Balasore district headquarters hospital crystal-like substances and fungus were found floating in a couple of life saving injections stocked there. More shocking is that the injections have two more years of shelf-life. The crystal-like substances were found in Mannitol, an intravenous injection administered to high blood pressure or haematoma patients.

Bhubaneswar: The proposed all-weather multipurpose port near the Subarnarekha river mouth in Balasore district has received environmental clearance of the Expert Appraisal Committee (EAC) of the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF). The project is to be developed by Chennai-based Creative Port Development Limited (CPDL), and a company has been formed under the banner of Subarnarekha Port Private Limited (SPPL).

BHUBANESWAR: The State Government on Monday defended Nesco, one of the three subsidiaries of the Reliance Infrastructure Limited (RIL) in power distribution business, which is accused of showing undue favour to a power-intensive company. ‘’The allegation that Balasore Alloys Limited (BAL), a defaulter of Rs 161 crore, is being allowed to get away by Nesco is not correct,’’ Minister of State for Energy Atanu Sabyasachi Nayak told the Assembly.