23 September 2015

CENTRAL TEAM TO VISIT DROUGHT-HIT DISTRICTS SOON

Bhubaneswar:
A Central team would soon visit the drought-hit districts in the State.
Union Agriculture Minister Radhamohan Singh has directed the concerned officials to send a team led by Ministry’s Additional Commissioner Dr RP Mallick to take stock of the drought situation in Odisha.
The team would be comprised experts from the Central Rice Research Institute (CRRI), Cuttack and Central and State Government officials.
Notably, Union Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Dharmendra Pradhan had apprised the Union Agriculture Minister about the drought-like situation occurred in 103 blocks in 23 districts, including Dhenkanal, Khordha, Boudh, Bargarg, Subarnapur, Kandhamal and Keonjhar districts due to deficient rainfall. He had urged the Minister to send a special team for the purpose, said a release issued by the BJP State unit.
However, the itinerary of the team is yet to be finalised.

ODISHA GIRL LALITA WINS TOP AWARD AT GOOGLE FAIR

Bhubaneswar: 
Thirteen-year-old Lalita Prasida Sripada Srisai from Odisha won the Community Impact Award at the prestigious Google Science Fair competition in California on Tuesday. The young scientist’s project was on development of low-cost bio-absorbent based on corn cobs.
The DPS Damanjodi student in Koraput has created a project which aims to clean waste water by running it through layers of corn cobs, powdered corn cobs, activated charcoal made from corn cobs and fine sand. This is a cost-effective and simple technique which is useful in immobilising contaminants in domestic and industrial effluents, and in ponds, reservoirs and water tanks.

The award with a cash prize of 10,000 US Dollar has been sponsored by Scientific American. Lalita will be further supported for one year by the organisation to build on her project. She has won the award in 13-15 years age group.