Archive for February, 2018
Expedite printing of Bhima Bhoi’s unpublished books
Following is a report from the Telegraph:
Sonepur: District collector Dasarathi Satpathy urged the Odisha Sahitya Akademi to take steps to bring out the unpublished manuscripts of saint poet Bhima Bhoi.
Speaking on a two-day seminar, organised by the akademi here on Wednesday, the collector said the district administration would extend all co-operation to the akademi in this regard. Satpathy said: “The poet has a special place in the field of spiritual literature. I request the Odisha Sahitya Akademi to do something to print the unpublished works of the saint poet. The district administration will co-operate with it in this regard.”
The poet’s many works have not come to light as it has not been published, and the original manuscripts are gathering dust at the Bhima Bhoi Samadhi Pitha Trust at Khaliapali village, about 20km from here.
Benudhar Pradhan, a poet of Sonepur, said it was very sad that the saint poet could not find a publisher. His works, especially the poems, have illuminated the world and yet many people do not know about his unpublished work till now. “It is high time some person or organisation must take the initiative to publish the unpublished works of the poet. And I strongly believe that the sahitya akademi is the right agency to take up it,” Pradhan said.
He said it was unfortunate that people were still in dark about the poet even more than 120 years after his death.
It was in the 1860s, when Bhima Bhoi came to Khaliapali, which was Sonepur state at that time. He wrote numerous poems, preached and propagated Alekhism or Mahima Dharma and professed the philosophy of Sunyabada (nothingness). The poet died in 1895 at Khaliapali where now stands his memorial temple called Sunya Mandir and a monastery where some followers of Mahima Dharma live. The monastery had a treasure of the original manuscripts and books of the saint poet. Some of the manuscripts were taken away by a few people and research scholars, but they were never returned.
The trust now has 14 manuscripts, including eight palm-leaf ones. Mahanadi Sahitya Sansad president Prabhudatta Rath said the district administration must take proactive actions for publication of the poet’s unpublished works.
“It is the duty of the administration to send proposals to the Odisha Sahitya Akademi for publication of the saint’s works. The initiative must begin from the district administration,” Rath said.
Khurda Road-Balangir rail line project gets Rs 625 crore allocation
Following is a report from the TOI:
BHUBANESWAR: The Centre has sanctioned the highest allocation of Rs 625 crore to Khurda Road-Balangir (289 km) new line project in the Union Budget 2018. It is one of the oldest and important projects of the state which will connect western Odisha with coastal part of the state.
The project was sanctioned in 1996-97, but the railway has completed only 66 km between Khurda Road and Nayagarh stations from Khurda Road side. It has not completed the first patch of 19 km from Balangir side. It has set a target to complete the project by March 2021. The state government has formed a joint venture with the Ministry of Railways to carry out the project.
On delay of the project, Umesh Singh, general manager of the East Coast Railway (ECoR), said a four-km patch of forest land between Nayagarh and Nuagaon has created problem in progress of the project. “We will solve this forest land issue with the state government and complete the work in the section soon,” he added.
Besides this, state has five other important projects include- Paradip-Haridaspur new line, Angul-Sukinda new line, Talcher-Bimalagarh new line, and doubling of two railway lines- Sambalpur-Titlagarh and Sambalpur-Talcher.
Angul-Sukinda new line (113 km) was sanctioned in 1997-98, but it is yet to be completed. A total of 38 per cent of the project is completed. Though the state government has formed a special purpose vehicle (SPV) with Rail Vikash Nigam Limited (RVNL), Container Corporation of India (CONCOR) and Jindal Steel Power Limited to carry out the project with a cost of Rs 1750 crore, it will still take one more years to complete the project by June 2019. This year, the Angul-Sukinda project got Rs 200 crore like last year.
Another old and significant project is Paradip-Haridaspur new line (82km) which was sanctioned in 1996-97 got Rs 200 crore like last year. Only 80 per cent of the work has been completed till date. Railways sources said the project will be completed by June this year. Keeping the project delay in mind, the government has formed a SPV with the Railways.
Kosal Discussion and Development Forum 