BHUBANESWAR: The Maoist-infested Laxmipur block in Koraput district which hogged the headlines for the wrong reason was back in the news on Tuesday. In a move that will help resolve the current crisis over land dispute, nearly 500 landless tribal families were given pattas under the land allocation programme, initiated by the Odisha Tribal Empowerment and Livelihoods Programme (OTELP).

BHUBANESWAR: The State Government has decided to sink 50,000 deep borewells by January, 2014 under the Biju Krushak Bikash Yojana to increase irrigation potential. A decision to this effect was taken at a high-level meeting presided over by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik at the Secretariat on Wednesday. Official sources said that so far 10,788 deep borewells have been installed under the programme and out of which 1,785 have been given electricity connection. A release from the Chief Minister’s office said that 8,000 more will be supplied power by June next year.

Tribal displacement, without rehabilitation, has led to growth of Naxalism: Tribal ministry

As many as 92 landless tribal families, predominantly of Paraja and Gadaba tribes from Katalaput, Charampi and Nandigaon villages of Koraput’s Nandapur tehsil, received homestead pattas from Governor Murlidhar Chandrakant Bhandare on Sunday. The tribal families had been identified as the first batch of landless households to receive patta for house sites in the Odisha Tribal Empowerment and Livelihood Programme (OTELP) intervention area. All the homesteadless and landless households in the 244 project villages are targeted to be distributed land title by mid-2012.

BHUBANESWAR: The State Government declared 17 of the 30 districts as drought-affected on Thursday. The announcement comes a day after Opposition Congress and BJP slammed the BJD Government for the alleged delay in providing assistance to the affected farmers.

The decision was taken after receiving reports on possible crop loss of 50 per cent or more in 12,046 villages under 113 blocks and 100 wards under 25 urban local bodies in the 17 districts, Revenue and Disaster Management Minister SN Patro informed the Assembly.

BHUBANESWAR: The State Government is keen on including iodised salt in the public distribution system (PDS) in order to ensure access by the lowest rung of the society and tackle the high prevalence of iodine deficiency disorders (IDDs) in the population, said Health Secretary Anu Garg .
The proposed project would commit itself to universalisation of salt iodisation and is proposed to be carried forward through multi-sectoral engagement.

JEYPORE: Loan burden claimed the life of yet another farmer in the State. Damburu Gowada, a 65-year-old farmer of Koraput village under Kolar panchayat of Boipariguda block, allegedly committed suicide by consuming poison over loan burden on Wednesday. Sources said Damburu had taken loans from various sources to cultivate paddy in his five acres of land in the kharif season. However, the crops were damaged for lack of irrigation facilities and inadequate rainfall.

BHUBANESWAR: In another step towards food security in the state, Odisha has been included in International programme for Roots and Tuber Crops (RTC), initiated by International Potato Centre (known by its Spanish acronym CIP).