Prafulla Kumar Jena had completed his B.Sc, M.Sc and Ph.D. in Chemistry from Utkal Unversity. He had done his M.Sc. in metallurgical engineering, University of British Columbia. He worked as as Senior Scientist in Bhabha Atomic Research Center, Trombay; as a Professor in Metallurgical Engineering, Banaras Hndu University, Varanasi, as Director of Regional Research Laboratory, Bhubaneswar. He was the Acting Director General, Council Of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) in 1986. He was also a Visiting Profess of  Catholic University, Rio de Janiero, Brazil and Tohuku University, Sendai, Japan. He was a distinguished Professor of Tata Chair, IIT Kharagpur. Prof. Jena is an internationally renowned metallurgist and has published numerous research articles in reputed journals. Recipient of various awards such as National Metallurgist award, Padmashri and FICCI (Federation of Indian Chamber of Coommerce and Industry) award.

Pyari Mohan Acharya was born in 1851 in Orissa. He is the person who established the now famous PM Academy in Cuttack. Here is a very interesting story about the beginning of the academy. In 1871, when Pyari Mohan was only 20 years old, he along with Madhusudan Rao and Gobinda Rath started a newspaper called UTKAL PUTRA in Oriya with an objective of bringing to everybody's attention general condition of the society and civic complaints. Pyari Mohan was the editor and publisher of this newspaper. Pyari Mohan published an article named Darakhast Jutiyan. When translated into English it means an appeal from shoes or may be a notice from shoes. The article accused the waste management authority of Cuttack of gross neglect in their duty to keep Cuttack clean. This article infuriated the then magistrate sahib, who ordered the headmaster Chandicharan Bandopadhyaya to expel PyariMohan from the school. Pyari Mohan refused to beg forgiveness from the magistrate and had to leave school and took up employment with the commissioner. He felt the need for a private school in Cuttack so that students will not face his fate and would be able to freely express their opinion. He did not however stop there, he went ahead and established a private school in Cuttack. He was then earning only 25 Rupees a month and used to donate whatever left of it after spending a minimum amount for his living expenses. Both Madhusudan and he actively campaigned for donations to the school from rich people. He continued to supervise the operation of the school even when he was the manager to the king of Damapada. This school was named after him and is now known as the Pyari Mohan Academy or simply the PM Academy of Cuttack.

Malati Choudhury inspired generations of political activists who later became Parliament members MLAs and ministers. Her followers became organizers in tribal areas and civic leaders. One should read Surendra Dwivedy's biography to know the bravery of Malati Choudhury who was like a mother to him. Malati Devi affectionately used to call him "Suria" - Surendrababu's childhood name. Whenever Malati Choudhury saw injustice she fought against it. That is why, when Nandini Satpathy was given a ticket by the Janata Dal to contest from the Dhenkanal constituency she stood against Nandini. To her it was unfair because Nandini had whole-heartedly supported the National Emergency. It is interesting to note that George Fernandez, the rising hero of the left front at the time, came to campaign for Nandini on behalf of the Janata Dal. Fernandez's mother in law Shanti Kabir toured Dhenkanal for Malati Devi. Biju Patnaik also contributed money to her election. Right after the independence Malati Devi became immersed in the upliftment of the tribal people of Orissa. She established Nava Jeevan Mandal and the Mandal sent workers - men and women -to different locations in Keonjhar, Ganjam, Koraput, Sundargarh, Phulbani and Dhenkanal districts to do confidence building works among the tribal people. Naturally, the police, the employees of the excise department, the petty government-officers and the money lenders of these areas did not like the workers as the workers inspired the local tribal folks not to participate in the ongoing process of their own exploitation. At times, both the tribal people and the workers got embroiled in confrontation with local and regional powers that be. Malati Devi often traveled to remote areas of Malkan Giri,Chandrapur, R.Udaya Giri , Gonasika, Tarini Pasi and Banai Garh to stand by her workers.

Guru Kelu Charan Mahapatra is undoubtedly the most important figure in Odissi dance today and has been the guru at some time of nearly every important Odissi dancer and teacher in India and throughout the world. Born in Raghuraipur, a village in Orissa in 1926, he belongs to a family of Patachitra painters who used to paint patachitras of Lord Jeganath. He started learning Gotipua Nritya and Pakhawaj under the great gurus, Mohan Sundar Deva Goswami and Pankaj Charan Das at an early age. He performed with a Rasleela troupe before joining the theatre. After Indian independence, he started to work to popularise Gotipua Nritya and the Mahari dance, and has subsequently received many awards for his contribution. He is one of the main architects of the contemporary Odissi repertoire and vocabulary. His creative ability is very evident in his choreography, while it is also informed by his study of ancient scriptures and sculpture in the temples of Orissa. Guru Kelu Charan Mahapatra's attitude towards dance is, in essence, devotional; to him dance is not so much a vocation as it is an expression of life.

Among the distinguised senior dancers of the Odissi style, Shrimati Kumkum Mohanty received her training in Odissi dance at Kala Vikash Kendra under the tutelage of Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra. She is also trained in Odissi. Early in life, she was acclaimed as an outstanding dancers and won appreciation among the connoisseurs. She has excelled in her sensitive renderings of Asthapadis from the Gita Govinda and taken lead roles in several choreographic works by her guru. She has also participated in major festivals in the country and abroad. In the mid-1980s, when the Odissi Research Centre was established by the Government of Orissa, Shrimati Mohanty was appointed its Chief Executive. In that capacity she has worked with several masters of Odissi dance and music carrying out significant work in the documentation and dissemination of the tradition. She also has several dance compositions to her credit. Shrimati Mohanty is Special Secretary ( Culture) to the Government of Orissa. Her contricution to Odissi was acknowledged with the Orissa Sangeet Natak Akademi Award, bestowed on her 1993. Shrimati Kumkum Mohanty received the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award for her contributions to Odissi dance in 1994.

Gopabandhu Das was born in Swando village of Puri district in Orissa in the year 1877 Oct 9. who is one of the founders of the modern Orissa, is also remembered for his patriotic lyrical poems and lucid, thought provoking writings. Gopabandhu Das was a public spirited Gandhian of Utkal who championed the cause of the statehood of Orissa. After graduation, he got his Law degree and joined the Bar. But he diverted his legal profession and make himself as a devotee to serve the people of Orissa. Along with his illustrious friends, Nilakantha Das, Godavarish Mishra, Acharya Harihar Das and Krupasindhu Misra, he started a school at Satyabadi (Presently - Sakhigopal) near Puri, which became the most important center of cultural activities of Orissa for decades. He championed the cause of the formation of the Orissa state for the Oriya speaking people, started the Satyabadi (a literary monthly). He edited Asha, a newspaper from Berhampore and later launched his own weekly Samaj from Puri in 1919 (a weekly which later became the most widely circulated daily newspaper of Orissa) He had launched the Kartavya Padhini Samiti (duty awakening society) for securing the Oriyas their rights and priviledges. Gopabandhu Das was a great orator and his speeches made at the Bihar-Orissa legislature of which he was a member, shows his excellent style of oratory as well as clarity of thought and concern for the poor. One may point at him as the father of modern Oriya journalism. His essays on education easily prove that he was an educationist of great insight and understanding. His ambition from childhood was to be a poet. Absorbed in social activities he had little time for literary endeavours, yet while imprisoned in the Hazaribagh Jail (1922-1924) for participating in the Indian Freedom Movement, he wrote Bandira Atmakatha (The soliloquy of a Prisoner) and Dharmapada. Bandira Atmakatha is the expression of his deep love for the people of Orissa and Dharmapada is the story of the twelve-year-old artisan boy who, after completing the Konark temple, drowned himself in the sea to save the lives and prestige of the twelve hundred artisans of Orissa. Though not a poetic genius, his sincerity of feelings and simple diction touches the heart of the reader. Educated Oriyas are often found quoting a line or two from his verses such as Mishu Mora Deha E Desha Matire (Let this body of mine merge with the soil of this country), Pachha Ghuncha Nahin Birara Jatake (The valiant never retreats), or Raha Raha Kshyane Vaspiya Sakata, Dekhibi Chilika Charu Chitrapata (A poem dedicated to the beauty of Chilika Lake). A prolific writer in English and Oriya, Gopabandhu had a unique style of presentation of his ideas. He is often refered to as the Father of Modern Orissa. He was conferred the honorary title of Utkalamani (The jewel of Utkal/Orissa) by the people of Orissa.

Bijayananda Patnaik, affectionately known to the common people as Biju Patnaik hailed from a family of freedom fighters, ideologues and patriots in Cuttack State of Orissa. During his formative years, he came under the impact of Mahatma Gandhi and the great nationalist sons of Orissa, Gopabandhu Das and Madhusudhan Das. He joined the freedom struggle and actively participated in the Quit India movement in close association with Aruna Asaf Ali and her underground activities against the British. He underwent imprisonment from 1943 to 1946 in the Red Fort, New Delhi, Ferozepur, Lahore and Cuttack. He helped the freedom fighters of Indonesia in their struggle for independence. He was associated with the Nepalese democratic movement as well. The services he rendered to the nation, at the call of Panditji in the area of diplomacy at the time of Chinese aggression in 1962 are part of our history. His greatest contribution to the country's democracy was the role he played tenaciously and repeatedly in Orissa, and at the national level, for forging opposition unity through times of factional politics. Indeed, he proved that the delight of political life is as well in the Opposition. Biju Patnaik was a sitting member of the Lok Sabha representing Aska Parliamentary Constituency of Orissa. Like Mr. Hamilton and Mr. Madison, the framers of the American Constitution, Biju Patnaik believed that national unity should be preserved through Federalism. For him, Federalism was an economic doctrine, not a political slogan. He even called for a United States of India in which the financial resources would equitably flow to the States consistent with their exploitable natural resources.

Manmohan Misra lived between March 23, 1920 to November 19, 2000. He published his first poem at the age of 14 and joined the freedom struggle at the age of 18. He was imprisoned and wrote poems in prison. Through his oratory and poetic expressions, he became known as the poet of the people. He spent his life giving voice to the voiceless. Amidst the seeming disarray and chaos, his voice continued as the lighting spirit in Orissa for fifty years. He was survived by his wife, three brothers, three sisters, five sons, two daughters and nine grandchildren at the time of his passing away. On his obituary he was called the Nazrul of Orissa. In March 2000, a select anthology of poems written by him was published on the occasion of the State Book Festival at Bhubaneswar. The book is entitled "Quominara". Quominara would translate as the voice (narA) of the people (Qoumi - Citizens). The subtitle is "Mahajatira Jayagana". The book is edited by the eminent poet and neighbor Sri Pathani Patnaik, President of Orissa Sahitya Academy. Manmohan Misra lived between March 23, 1920 to November 19, 2000. He published his first poem at the age of 14 and joined the freedom struggle at the age of 18. He was imprisoned and wrote poems in prison. Through his oratory and poetic expressions, he became known as the poet of the people. He spent his life giving voice to the voiceless. Amidst the seeming disarray and chaos, his voice continued as the lighting spirit in Orissa for fifty years. He was survived by his wife, three brothers, three sisters, five sons, two daughters and nine grandchildren at the time of his passing away. On his obituary he was called the Nazrul of Orissa. In March 2000, a select anthology of poems written by him was published on the occasion of the State Book Festival at Bhubaneswar. The book is entitled "Quominara". Quominara would translate as the voice (narA) of the people (Qoumi - Citizens). The subtitle is "mahAjAtira jayagAna". The book is edited by the eminent poet and neighbor Sri Pathani Patnaik, President of Orissa Sahitya Academy. Manmohan Misra lived between March 23, 1920 to November 19, 2000. He published his first poem at the age of 14 and joined the freedom struggle at the age of 18. He was imprisoned and wrote poems in prison. Through his oratory and poetic expressions, he became known as the poet of the people. He spent his life giving voice to the voiceless. Amidst the seeming disarray and chaos, his voice continued as the lighting spirit in Orissa for fifty years.

Prof. Manoj Das is one of the foremost short-story writers in post-independence India. He writes in both Oriya and English. Now he is a Professor of English at Sri Aurovindo International University at Pondicherry. About 250 short stories have been published in different noted Oriya literary Jourbals during the past 25 years, some of which have been published in different Indian Languages such as Bengali,Hindi,Assamese,Telgu,Kannad, Gujrati,Punjabi,Tanil,Konkani and Marathi in various magazines and also in reputed English journals. He was born in 1934 in Balasore, Orissa. His first published literary work (1949) is "Sataabdi-ra Aartanaada", a compilation of his early poems. His first compilation of short-stories is "Samudrara Khsyudhaa" (1951). As a student he was a Marxist, and led several students' and farmers' movements. After graduating as a Master in Arts in English, he taught English at the Christ College, Cuttack for four years. Then he was inspired by Sri Aurovindo's philosophy and joined his quest for knowledge. He moved to Pondicherry and besides culturing the great philosophy, he has been teaching English at the Sri Aurovindo International University there ever since' His work includes short-stories, poems, travelogues and essays in both English and Oriya. He has also written books for children and Sri Aurovindo's biography. Several stories in the chandamama"(Janhamamun) come from Prof. Das. He was the editor of the highly cultural magazine of the 80's - "The Heritage". His short-stories are highly psychological, flavoured with intelligent sarcasm and ultimate optimism. Innocence of a child , helplessness of the powerful and transformation of the proud are themes of many of his stories. A lot other stories cast complete absurdity and strangeness into a tale of believable facts.