The mortality rate of newspapers is high worldwide. In India the rate is still higher. Consider this: in India there are only about 50 newspapers which have been published before independence in 1947 still surviving. In this situation a newspaper completing 100 years of existence is in itself a cause for celebration. And if the newspaper happens tobe published from a place located about 200 km away from the capital and happens to have a rich legacy and contribution in the social history of the state- it is cause for double celebration. But for some strange reasons DainikAsha, the first Odia daily is low key about the celebration. Asha was established by Shashi Bhusan Rath, a great freedom fighter in the undivided Ganjam in 13 April, 1913.