36 Garh

Chattisgarh on Wikimapia

2006-08-17T13:12:00.000-07:00

I was happy to see many tags for Bhilai, Raipur, Bilaspur in Wikimapia. I added few more tags :)
The other good thing was images for city area are more crisp than Google Earth.

Bhilai Sector-8 Here:

Technical Education in Chattisgarh

2006-08-04T14:04:00.000-07:00

For many years students from Chattisgarh used to migrate to private engineering colleges in Maharsatra and Karnataka for higher studies as number of engineering seats were very few. There were only few engineering colleges mainly GEC in Raipur, Bilaspur, Jagadapur and BIT in Bhilai. After creation of Chattisgarh, state has added many govt and pvt engineering colleges and on Apr 2005 created 1 technical university Swami Vivekanand Technical University in Bhilai. All engineering degree/diploma colleges in state will be under SVTU.

Now lets see other development. The GEC in Raipur is now NIT, Raipur directly under central government. The engineering entrance exam PET which was abolished by Ajit Jogi has been reintroduced by Raman Singh's Govt.

Last week, I read SVTU is struggling to get land from SAIL. Bhilai steel plant is demanding Rs 5 Cr for the land. While SAIL is talking about market economy, it is sad that state govt did not secure land while creating university. This should get resolve soon so that full fuctional Tech Univ can create bright new engineers for the world.

P.S.: While land is issue, I dont think space on internet is issue. SVTU website is 1 year old with very few links and I dont see any update in this website in last 1 year.

Is Dr Raman Singh visionary CM ?

2006-07-28T07:30:00.000-07:00

I read a good blog here Samay ke sath

Here are my views:

Is Dr Raman Singh good politician/CM ?
Yes

Is Dr Raman Singh a visionary ?
No

I dont find any policy/program of CM worth as "progressive" for Chattisgarh. In compare to Ajit Jogi who was better CEO ( and bad politician ), I find Singh as just plain CM. Here is some comparison of different policies:
Ajit Jogi:
1) Plan for 3 East-West, 2 North-South road corridor for state
2) Private University Act making India ready for future Harvard, Stanford
3) Cutting down state govt staff and closing down state transport etc

Dr Raman Singh:
1) Jheopatra Bio-Disel Fuel
2) Cows to Adivasi, shoes to Tendu Labour etc
3) Food park in Tedersa, Herbal Park etc

What I see here CM's lack of vision for future progress. His most policies are vote bank politics.

New devlopments

2006-07-14T07:32:00.000-07:00

I posted on Jul 9 my views about Chattisgarh being a Power Hub. On Jul 11, Chattisgarh's Chief Minister Mr Raman Singh announced that the state will be "Power Hub of India by 2010". More players are jumping in to produce electricity in the state. The latest one is Delhi State Goverment. Delhi is going to setup 2000 MW power plant in Naila, Janjgir District, Chattisgarh (60 Kms from Bilaspur). Delhi is struglling with power shortage and wants adequate power supply for Commenwealth Games in 2010.

Full of surprises

2006-07-06T17:40:00.000-07:00

India's 26th state Chhattisgarh, a 21st century State, came into being on November 1, 2000. Larger than Tamil Nadu (Chhattisgarh State is larger than 16 other Indian states) , it is just the right size, and is also fortunate to have a low population density.

India's Lung/Oxygen Zone:
So, why I am calling Chattisgarh as India's Lung. Here are my reasons:
A human lung's principal function is to transport oxygen from the atmosphere into the bloodstream, and to excrete carbon dioxide from the bloodstream into the atmosphere. Chattisgarh does this by its forest. Over 59000 sq. km area in the State is under forest, which is 12% of India's forests. Identified as one of the richest bio-diversity habitats, the Green State of Chhattisgarh has the densest forests in India, rich wildlife, and above all, over 200 non-timber forest products, with tremendous potential for value addition.

Rich Land:
With all major minerals including diamonds, coal, iron, bauxite, limestones in abundance, it is the richest State in mineral resources. There are mega industries in Steel, Aluminium and Cement.
Here are some BIG players:
1) SECL,Bilaspur is largest coal producing company in India.
2) SAIL, Bhilai is one of biggest steel plant in India
3) BALCO, Korba is one of the largest Aluminium producer in India
4) NTPC has one of the biggest power plant in Korba.
5) Lafarge, ACC, Birla, Tata Steel has cement plants in Chattisgarh cement belt.

Other major playors are Jindal Steels in Raigarh, NMDC (iron ore) in Bailadila etc. South East Central Railways (SECR), Bilaspur is Indian Railways MOST revenue earning zone (contributing 17% of the revenues of Indian Railways).

Power Hub:
Its large power surplus is attracting power-intensive industries, and the State is poised to become the power-hub of the nation. Its central location helps easy power transmission to any part of the country. The State is supplying power to Western Grid which inculdes Maharsatra, Goa, MP and Gujrat and also to Delhi and Karnataka, among others. NTPC, CSEB has super thermal power plants in Korba. NTPC is building one more mega power plant with 3000+ MW capacity in Sipat, Bilaspur. Essar, Jindal, IIFCO and others have submitted proposal to build more power plants.

People:
In urban Chhattisgarh, people from all over of country have settled. You will find marathi, sindhi, punjabi, keralites, telugu, tamil, upites, bihari, bengali people in any urban city like Bhilai, Raipur, Bilaspur, Korba, Raigarh etc. These immigrants gives Chattisgarh a unique identity and adds colors to diverse culture. One third of Chhattisgarh's population is of tribes, mostly in the thickly forested areas in the North and South.

Education:
Chattisgarh contributes substantially to the Human Resources of India. Several hundred students from the State qualify for admissions in prestigious academic institutions every year. Bhilai, the knowledge capital of the State, alone sends over 50+ students year to the elite Indian Institutes of Technology every year. Female literacy has doubled in the last decade, and male literacy is higher than India's average. Gender ratio is next only to Kerala.

A unique Private Universities Act has been passed to attract investments in quality higher education. Female literacy has doubled in the last decade, and male literacy is higher than India's average. Gender ratio is next only to Kerala.

Rice Bowl:
The central plains of Chhattisgarh are known as the "Rice Bowl" of Central India. It is staple food and many rice mills export rice to other states.

Tourism:
Bastar is known the world over for its unique and distinctive tribal heritage. The Bastar Dassera is the traditional celebration of the gaiety of our tribals. All of Chhattisgarh has many virgin, unexplored tourism destinations.

Above all, the State's biggest asset is its 208 lakh people. The people are friendly, open, warm and industrious. Chhattisgarh has an enviable record of social harmony and maintenance of public order. Upholding the Rule of Law is top priority for the Government.

http://www.chhattisgarhtourism.net/
http://chhattisgarh.nic.in/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chattisgarh