Lawyers of State to join nationwide protest

Lawyers of the State on Sunday announced that they would join the nationwide protest against the Union Government’s move to bring in the Higher Education and Research Bill that is said to infringe upon the powers and functions of the Bar Council of India and State Bar Councils.

The Orissa State Bar Council on Sunday resolved to observe July 11 and 12 as Protest days against the Bill with lawyers abstaining from court work and holding dharnas at the State headquarters and districts.

The State Bar Council has joined issue with the Government on the Higher Education Research Bill and other connected draft legislations like the National Law School Bill 2011 and the Educational Tribunals Bill 2012 which threatened the various autonomous bodies that oversaw development of professional studies. The move will particularly affect the Bar Council of India (BCI), which is the apex body for maintaining the standard of Legal Education as well as the quality of legal profession in the country, chairman of OSBC Gopal Krushna Mohanty said.

The BCI and the State Bar Councils are statutory bodies created under the Advocates Act, 1961, to regulate the legal profession and laying standards of legal education at the University level. The five-year integrated law courses is the fruit of labour of the BCI, which is being followed by the Centres of excellence at the 14 National Law Schools.

The preparation of syllabus, course materials and the criteria for recognition of Universities imparting legal education are all being done under the Directorate of legal education of the BCI. The Legal Education Committee of the BCI is a mix of top legal luminaries of the country, headed by a retired Supreme Court Judge with High Court judges, Professors of Law, Union Law Secretary, Attorney-General and Solicitor- General of India as members. This highly  distinguished team devises policies for legal education.

“Thus when the BCI has been unerringly handling the affairs and taking the education in the right direction that too without any financial assistance from the Government, the attempt by the HRD Ministry to snatch the functions away is incomprehensible, Mohanty said.

The State Bar Council under the resolution of BCI has also decided to petition the President of India, the Prime Minister and the Chief Minister demanding withdrawal of the Bill. The High Court Bar Association would also hold a meeting on June 17 to pass a resolution opposing the Bill.

Samakala' enthralls audience

The contemporary dance festival “Samakala” opened here with colour and grandeur today.

Three day long festival has been organized on behalf of Department of Tourism & Culture, Government of Odisha, Odisha Sangeet Natak Academy organised

Being organised for the first time this festival awakened curosity and excitement among the art connoisseurs of the city who thronged to see something of different taste both in terms of dance as well as presentation.

The first presentation of the evening was Hansha Balaka, skillfully displaying the various gaits and movements of Swain followed by acrobatic gestures entiledStreet Dance Ragavali depicting the nationalist element through the colourful display of Indian national flag with Ashoka Chakra choreographed by his illustrious father Narendra Sharma sensitized the patriotic spirit of the audiences.

It was punctuated with movement with imagined charecterstics of each colour and the centrality of chakra in the flag’s formulation.

Prafulla Samal, Minister, Tourism & Culture inaugurated the festival, which was graced by Shrimati Mandoi Singh, Vice Chancellor, Khairagada University,  Prof. Amiya Pattnaik, Vice Chancellor, Utkal University of Culture, Smt. Jhelam Paranjape, Renowned Odissi Dancer.

The Prime Mover of the festival of contemporary dance, Ashok Kumar Tripathy, Principal Secrertary, Tourism & Culture, Susil Kumar Das, Director, Culture, President, Sarat Pujari, President, OSNA, Aruna Mohanty, Vice President, OSNA and Chitta Ranjan Mallia, Secretary, OSNA were also present.

Jatakmala i.e. tales of Buddhist expound on wisdom and vagaries of life through a series of naratives. 

These tales emanated issues of times i.e. ecology, human releations, wisdom stories and historical record of its time. 

Choreographed by Bharat Sharma this episode depicts images of animal world, power, conflicts, enviornment, relationship, dreams and abstract concepts using props, colour schema and different designs through gestures and movements.

The second item of the evening was by Ananda Shankar Jayant a noted danseuse and choreographer who chose to present with five interesting episodes from the popular compedium “Panchatantra” using the grammer and idiom of classical dance. 

She effortlessly bridges traditional strcutures with contemporary inputs. 

Her group performance on Panchatantra sends message of friendship, bravery, leadership  and freedom through parable and allegory of popular tales of Panchatantra showcasing the stories of monkey and crocodile, lion and rabit, swain and tortoise, monkey. 

Laced with humour and satire, elegantly blend of tradition with contemporary and beautifully combined with a rich movement of vocabulary and grammer the production of Padamshree Dr. Jayant took the audience to a different world of kaleiodoscopic designs of colour rhythm and imagery. 

Both Bharat Sharma and Dr. Ananda Shankar enthralled the art lovers of the city by their superb choreographic presentation of music, dance and rhythm synchronized with proper costumes, props and light effects.

World environment day observed at Nabarangpur.

Nabarangpur:

World environment day is being celebrated at Central Nursery of Patramunda Nabarangpur.

Guests with Prakruti Bandhu Award winners at the Meeting

Chief Guest Collector Sibabrata Dash  called for a concerted and collective effort for environment conservation. Every individual should make a significant contribution in safeguarding the environment," he said.

DFO, Solaram Marandi stressed on maintaining balance between development and conservation of the environment. Due to progressive climate change and other environmental concerns, there is continuous deterioration in the environment across the globe and is one of the primary concern of present world he added.

10 Prakruti Mitra awards  and 10 prakruti Bandhu awards with 5000 cheques were distributed at the meeting. Among others PDDRDA,James Eakka, ACF,Biswaraj Panda, Dr.Bijaya Mishra, were DIPRO, Bhujang Bhusan Rao, were spoke on the occasion. 

Naveen escapes ‘coup’ bid.

Bhubaneswar: The ruling BJD on Wednesday escaped a vertical split as the “dissidents” led by party Rajya Sabha member Pyarimohan Mohapatra shelved their plan to stage a “possible coup” for the time being.

Sources said the dissidents, who on Tuesday had gathered at two separate places — at the Sahid Nagar residence of Pyarimohan Mohapatra and in star hotel to finalise the split process — desisted from their bid as they failed to garner the required number. The BJD has 104 legislators in the 147-member state Assembly.

Sources said of the 33 MLAs and three ministers who on Tuesday evening pledged support to Mr Mohapatra changed their allegiance to the party president and chief minister Naveen Patnaik. Some of the Pyari-loyalits MLAs showed off at Naveen Niwas, the chief minister’s residence this morning, to escape disciplinary action.

Chief minister Naveen Patnaik, meanwhile, cut-short his nine-day trip to foreign countries and is returning to Bhubaneswar to handle the crisis.

In another development, Mr Mohapatra, while addressing a press conference here, said he had not plan to split the party. He, however, admitted that the party chief had come under the “evil” influence of the some conspirators.

“The party chief has come under the evil influence of the some conspirators who want to finish the party. I just wanted to tell these conspirators they cannot kill the party for their vested interests,” he said.

Denying any threat perception from his side to the chief minister, Mr Mohapatra clarified that the Tuesday meeting of legislators at his residence should not be construed as a revolt against the party leadership.

“I don’t have any plan to dislodge Naveen Patnaik. The legislators do come to my residence regularly for consultation. Yesterday, they came to discuss some issues. Many of the complained about neglect them by bureaucrats and not getting adequate attention in the party forum,” he said.

To a query if wanted to be chief minister, Mr Mohapatra said, “I do not have any ambition to become the CM at this moment. Had any ambition to become CM, I would have been so in 2009 when the party came to power for the third term in 2009. Of the 104 MLAs, more than 90 per cent were given tickets by me and they are still with me,” he claimed.

Asked what would be his reaction if Mr Patnaik takes disciplinary action against him and his loyalists, Mr Mohapatra retorted, “It’s like you are asking me if I would be using umbrella if it rains.”

To another question, he replied, “If the BJD legislators meet and decide to change the leadership, I cannot say anything on that. But such a possibility is far ahead.”

BJD vice president Dr Damodar Rout Mr Mohapatra was trying to destabilise the ruling BJD by holding an “unwarranted” meeting.Over 40 MLAs have gathered at Naveen Niwas waiting for the chief minister’s arrival from London.

Loyal BJD legislators await Naveen's return

Bhubaneswar: A day after some BJD MLAs met party MP Pyari Mohan Mohapatra fuelling speculation of dissidence, over 60 party legislators on Wednesday gathered at the residence of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, who is away in London, to express loyalty to him. 

"Naveen Patnaik is the supreme leader in the BJD. More than 60 MLAs and ministers are waiting at Naveen Niwas for the chief minister to return," BJD Vice-President Damodar Rout told reporters here. 

Finance Minister Prafulla Ghadai said of the 104 MLAs of the party, over 60 were at Naveen Niwas and more would arrive. 

Significantly, Housing and Urban Development Minister Sarda Nayak, Transport Minister Sanjeev Sahu, Women and Child Development Minister Anjali Behera and Energy Minister Atanu S Nayak, who attended the meeting at Pyari Mohan Mohapatra's house in Saheed Nagar last night, were not seen at Naveen Niwas. 

Four MLAs, who attended the dissident camp meeting, however, were also present at Naveen Niwas. The BJP MP, on his part, claimed that he was unaware of reports that legislators close to him were holed up at a luxury hotel here. 

The CM was expected to return to Bhubaneswar soon. "It is not practically possible to reach here from London quickly. Patnaik is likely to return tomorrow," an official at the Chief Minister's Office (CMO) said. 

Yesterday, the CM had told a news agency in London that in his absence an MP of his party was stirring trouble against his government and trying to divide the BJD which was deplorable. Mohapatra said "There is absolutely no threat to Naveen Patnaik from me. He is completely safe as chief minister as he is the leader of the BJD." 

Mohapatra, Panda deny revolt in BJD

Bhubaneswar: A day after reports indicated that all is not well within the ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) party in Odisha, the man at the centre of the “alleged revolt” has denied any such dissidence. 

Senior party leader Pyari Mohan Mohapatra said BJD leader and Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik continues to be their leader. He denied speculation that he planned to dethrone Patnaik. 

While stating that there was no dissidence in the party, Mohapatra did say that there were grievances because the party organisation was not being looked after properly. 

He said party members who had met him said they were unhappy because bureaucrats were not listening to them. He also said some ministers had told him that their secretaries were ignoring them. 

Mohapatra, 72, did not name Patnaik but said people with vested interests were trying to create indiscipline in the party and were not being checked despite repeated reminders. 

"For one-and-a-half years I have been pointing out indiscipline in the party but no action was taken," he said. Meanwhile, top party MP Jay Panda also rubbished as mere speculation reports of a revolt. 

Panda said, “There is no threat as is being speculated. I want to reiterate that there is no threat to the Naveen Patnaik-led government in the state.” 

The trouble started after it was reported that at least 25 BJD MLAs including four senior ministers Tuesday night met at Mohapatra’s Bhubaneswar residence in the absence of Naveen Patnaik, who is in the United Kingdom. 

It was being speculated that the BJD was heading for a possible split as a powerful section within the party had fallen out with the CM. Panda clarified on the issue saying, “The meeting at Pyari Mohan Mohapatra’s residence had nothing to do with the Naveen Patnaik government and it was called to discuss a statewide bandh called by the BJD to protest fuel price hike in the days to come.” 

The clarification from the BJD MP came in the wake of reports that the Rajya Sabha MP from Odisha is trying to form a “breakaway government” and is due to meet the Governor today to stake claim to form the government. 

The four ministers who attended the meeting presided by Mohapatra included Women Child Development Minister Anjali Behera, Higher Education Minister Badri Narayan Patra, Minister of Food, Civil supplies and Consumer Welfare Minister Sarada Prasad Naik, and Minister for Commerce and Transport Sanjeev Sahoo. 

Patnaik is currently in the UK and is scheduled to return on June 3. Despite the reported trouble in his party, he is not expected to cut short his UK trip and return home early. Reports of a rift widening between Patnaik and Mohapatra have been doing the rounds for quite some time now. 

I apologise for my misbehaviour at MCA: Shah Rukh Khan.

By: Basant Rath, Sr.Correspondent.


CHENNAI: An ecstatic Kolkata Knight Riders owner Shah Rukh Khan on Sunday apologised for his misbehaviour with the Mumbai Cricket Associationofficials at the Wankhede Stadium after a match against Mumbai Indians.

Surrounded by his wife and daughter and other kids, the Bollywood superstar said, "I want to apologise to the kids for my misbehaviour at MCA. I apologise to all who saw me differently. I shouldn't have behaved in that manner. But today my team has won, so I guess, all you fans should forgive me. We have won at last."

He praised each and every player.

"I am proud of Gautam and the boys. We made a video of families of all our players and saw Manvinder Bisla's parents speaking about their son. They must be very proud and so am I. I want to tell the people of the Bengal, that now this team belongs to you."