Mayurbhanj district is one of the 30 districts in Odisha state in eastern India. It is the largest district of Odisha by area. Its headquarters are at Baripada. Other major towns are Rairangpur, Karanjia and Bahalda. As of 2011, it is the third-most-populous district of Odisha, after Ganjam and Cuttack.
Koraput district is a district of India in southern Odisha, with headquarters at Koraput. The district is located in the Eastern Ghats and is known for its hilly terrain, rich and diverse types of mineral deposits and its tribal culture and traditions. The district headquarters town of Koraput and its largest city, Jeypore are major centres of trade and commerce for South Odisha and fall on an important road connecting Visakhapatnam to Raipur.
Kalahandi district is a district of Odisha in India. Archaeological evidence of Stone Age and Iron Age human settlement has been recovered from the region. Asurgarh offered an advanced, well civilised, cultured and urban human settlement about 2000 years ago in the region. In South Asia it is believed that the lands of Kalahandi district and Koraput district were the ancient places where people started cultivation of paddy. In ancient time it was known as Mahakantara and Karunda Mandal, which means treasure of precious stones like karandam (corundum/manik), garnet, beruz, neelam, and alexandrite, etc. Manikeswari is the clan deity of Kalahandi may also signify its historical name.
Nuapada district is an area of Odisha state in India. Nuapada town is the headquarters of the district. It has one subdivision: Nuapada, and five blocks: Khariar, Sinapali, Boden, Komna, and Nuapada. Nuapada District has three Notified Area Councils: Khariar, Khariar Road, and Nuapada, six tehsils and more villages such as Gandabahali, Tukla, Hatibandha, Duajher, Bargaon, Tarbod, Udyanbandh, and Larka.
Bhawanipatna is a city and the headquarter of Kalahandi district in the state of Odisha, India. Bhawanipatna has numerous temples dedicated to different deities of the Hindu pantheon. It is named after the presiding deity, Bhawani-Shankar, and Patna, which means "place" in Odia.
Vedanta Resources Limited is a UK- Indian diversified mining company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the largest mining and non-ferrous metals company in India and has mining operations in Australia and Zambia and oil and gas operations in three countries. Its main products are Zinc, Lead, Silver, Oil & Gas, Iron Ore, Steel, Aluminium and Power. It has also developed commercial power stations in India in Odisha and Punjab.
Samata is an India-based non-governmental organization that focuses on advocacy and development issues among tribal communities in Andhra Pradesh. Samata helps tribal groups address problems of land alienation, displacement, and political dis-empowerment. Its mission is to uphold the traditional, constitutional, and human rights of the tribal or adivasi people.
River Vamsadhara or River Banshadhara is an important east flowing river between Rushikulya and Godavari, in Odisha and Andhra Pradesh states in India.
Bhubaneswar Behera was an engineer, writer and scholar from the Kalahandi district of Odisha.
The history of Kalahandi goes back to the primitive period where a well-civilized, urbanized, and cultured people inhabited this land mass around 2000 years ago. The world's largest celt of Stone Age and the largest cemetery of the megalithic age have been discovered in Kalahandi. This shows the region had a civilized culture since the pre-historic era. Asurgarh near Narla in Kalahandi was one of the oldest metropolises in Odisha whereas the other one was Sisupalgarh near Bhubaneswar. Some other historical forts in the region includes Budhigarh, Amthagarh, Belkhandi and Dadpur-Jajjaldeypur. This land was unconquered by the great Ashoka, who fought the great Kalinga War, as per Ashokan record. In medieval period the region had played a prominent role to link South India, Eastern India and Central India region and witnessed the battle ground for Somavamsi, Chola, Kalachuris of Kalyani and Eastern Ganga dynasty. Kalahandi region was the main route for Chola to attack Subarnapur.
Bhawanipatna is classified as one of the major tourist destinations by the tourism Department of Government of Odisha. All the tourist attraction in Kalahandi region comes under Bhawanipatna jurisdiction. Though tourist potential of Kalahandi has not been exploited optimally due to poor marketing, political negligence and infrastructure development, the land is very rich in terms of water fall, forest and wild life, natural and scenic beauty, tribal life, mountains, agriculture field, historical sites and handicrafts. The best time to visit Kalahandi region is from October to March. April–June is hard Summer and the mercury may rise to 45 degree C and June to August is the Monsoon Season. It occasionally rains in September, but do not miss the great festival like Nuakhai in September and Dassara in end of September or early October. Beginning of Dessara marks the pleasant weather condition till the celebration of Chaitra in February/March.
Gram Vikas is an Indian non-governmental organisation based in Odisha, and founded in 1979. Gram Vikas works towards enabling rural communities to lead a dignified life. This is done by building capabilities of village communities, strengthening community institutions and mobilising resources. Gram Vikas works on six focus areas which are water, livelihoods, sanitation & hygiene, habitat & technologies, village institutions and education.
Bhakta Charan Das is an Indian politician. He was a member of the Indian Parliament and represented the Kalahandi constituency in the 15th Lok Sabha.
Manḍa is a Dravidian language of Odisha, spoken in the highlands of Thuamul Rampur block of Kalahandi district. It only became known to Western academia in 1964. Its speakers are generally known as 'Khond Parjas' by outsiders but self-identify as Manda Khonds. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, the language was spoken in around 60 villages and the total number of speakers was estimated to be at 4000-5000. However the language is facing endangerment from Odia, which all speakers are bilingual in.
The Provisions of the Panchayats Act, 1996 or PESA is a law enacted by the Government of India for ensuring self governance through traditional Gram Sabhas for people living in the Scheduled Areas of India. Scheduled Areas are areas identified by the Fifth Schedule of the Constitution of India. Scheduled Areas are found in ten states of India which have predominant population of tribal communities. The Scheduled Areas, were not covered by the 73rd Constitutional Amendment or Panchayati Raj Act of the Indian Constitution as provided in the Part IX of the Constitution. PESA was enacted on 24 December 1996 to extend the provisions of Part IX of the Constitution to Scheduled Areas, with certain exceptions and modifications. PESA sought to enable the Panchayats at appropriate levels and Gram Sabhas to implement a system of self-governance with respect to a number of issues such as customary resources, minor forest produce, minor minerals, minor water bodies, selection of beneficiaries, sanction of projects, and control over local institutions. PESA is an Act to provide for the extension of the provisions of Part IX of the Constitution relating to the Panchayats and the Scheduled Areas. PESA was viewed as a positive development for tribal communities in Scheduled Areas who had earlier suffered tremendously from engagement with modern development processes and from the operation of both colonial laws and statutes made in independent India. The loss of access to forest, land, and other community resources had increased their vulnerability. Rampant land acquisition and displacement due to development projects had led to large scale distress in tribal communities living in Scheduled Areas. PESA was seen as a panacea for many of these vulnerabilities and sought to introduce a new paradigm of development where the tribal communities in such Scheduled Areas were to decide by themselves the pace and priorities of their development.
Digambara Patra is a professor of Chemistry at the American University of Beirut.
Gram Vikas Residential School is a co-educational Odia medium school that offers education from Grade 3 to Grade 10 level in Odisha, India. The school was founded in 1982 by Dr. Joe Madiath. It is affiliated to the Board of Secondary Education, Odisha. It has four branches. Gram Vikas High School was established in 1982 at Kankia village in the Ganjam district. Mahendra Tanaya Ashram School was established in Koinpur village in Gajapati District of Odisha in 1992. Two more schools, Gram Vikas Shiksa Niketan and Gram Vikas Vidya Vihar, were established in 1998 and 2002 in Kalahandi district and Ganjam district, respectively.
Sujeet Kumar is an Indian politician of the Biju Janata Dal party and a Member of Parliament (MP), representing Odisha in the Rajya Sabha(The Council of States or The Upper House), since 2020.He is also a Lawyer and trained Arbitrator, and practicing in the Supreme Court of India, various High Courts and Tribunals. He is currently the Chairman of the Committee on Petitions of Rajya Sabha, one of the youngest ever to chair a Parliamentary Committee. He earlier served as the Advisor, in the rank of Chief Secretary, to the Special Development Council (SDC) of Government of Odisha and as the Special Secretary of Odisha State Planning Board, very senior policy planning positions with Government of Odisha.
Mohammed Afzal-ul Amin, popularly known as M.A. Amin, was an Indian statesman, politician and social worker from Cuttack, Odisha. He served as the general secretary of Utkal Pradesh Congress Committee during Biren Mitra's chief ministership. Afzal-ul was the Vice Chairman and later the Chairman of Cuttack Municipality and also the President of Odisha Mohammadan Association. He played a major role in preserving Urdu language in Cuttack by establishing several lower primary and upper primary Urdu schools in the city. He is also credited for organising various nationalist meetings and for mobilizing the common masses in Cuttack during the Quit India movement of 1942.
Farhat Amin is an Indian journalist, cartoonist and social activist. She's Odisha's state convenor of Bharatiya Muslim Mahila Andolan, a national rights based organisation which fights for the rights of Muslim women. Farhat is the founder and chief functionary of BIRD Trust, a non-governmental organisation which works for the upliftment of marginalized women in Odisha. She is the pioneer of Muslim women movement in Odisha. In 2005 she was enlisted in the directory of Development journalists published by the prestigious Press Institute of India.
