India 2018

638 India 2018
History
and Geography
The history of Odisha dates back to antiquity, its most famous old names being
Kalinga, Utkal and Odra. By the time of Mahavir and Buddha, the Kalinga
region on the entire east coast acquired recognition and fame. Mauryan
Emperor, Ashoka’s invasion of Kalinga was an epoch-making event of ancient
times of far reaching consequences. Kalinga was conquered but the conquest
changed the heart of the conqueror. The transformation of Ashoka changed
the course of religion and cultural history not only of India but also of the
whole of Asia. The next great era of Odishan history commenced during the
reign of Mahameghavahana Kharavela who ruled in the 1st half of the second
century B.C. During Kharavela’s reign the empire of Kalinga extended upto
the river Ganga in the north and the river Godavari in the south. Subsequently
the great dynasties such as the Shailodvabas, Bhoumakaras, Somavamsis,
Gangas were not only great empire builders, but also promoters of art, literature
and culture. The world famous Sun Temple at Konark was built in the thirteenth
century by Narasimha Deva, the famous Jagannath temple at Puri in the twelfth
century by Anangabhima Deva and the Lingaraj temple, Bhubaneshwar in the
eleventh century by Jajati-II. Odisha was ruled successively by five Muslim
kings till 1592 from mid-16th century, when Akbar annexed it into the Mughal
empire with the decline of the mughal empire, Marathas occupied Odisha.
They continued to hold it till the British took over the province in 1803.
Modern Odisha was born in 1936. The state, the land of Lord Jagannath,
situated on the shores of Bay of Bengal is surrounded by West Bengal on the
north-east, Jharkhand on the north, Chhattisgarh and Telangana on the west
and Andhra Pradesh on the south. Its diverse landscape comprises coastal
plains, mountainous terrain, plateaus, verdant river valleys and slopes dotted
with watersheds, springs, lakes and forest cover of varying density.
Agriculture
Agriculture continues to be the backbone of the state’s economy. About 65 per
cent of the population is dependant on the National Sample Survey
Organisation (NSSO) survey of 2012-13 indicates that farm income has doubled
as compared to the survey of 2002-03. The food grain production touched an
all-time high of 118.24 lakh metric tonnes during 2014-15 registering 22.7 per
cent growth.
Irrigation
During the last two years, 2.94 lakh hectares of additional irrigation potential
was created through all sources. 54 Parbati Giri megga-lift irrigation projects,
17,000 deep wells, 3,000 shallow tube wells, 7,099 micro river lifts, 2,512 lift
irrigation projects, and 4,300 check dams are targeted to be completed during
2017-18.
Transport
Roads: To improve road connectivity in a time bound manner and considering
connectivity as means to socio-economic growth, the state government has