Guest Column News Updates

By Ashutosh Mishra Bhubaneswar: The killing of a hardcore Maoist, a platoon commander, in an encounter in Malkangiri district on Wednesday, is a significant achievement of state police. Though a district voluntary force (DVF) jawan also lost his life in the exchange of fire there is no denying the importance of the operation. While the […]

By Ashutosh Mishra Bhubaneswar: Odisha government must be grateful to the Centre for allocating more than rupees five thousand crore for afforestation and forest regeneration activities in the state over a period of ten years. The allocation, believed to be the highest compared to any other state, has been made by Centre’s Compensatory Afforestation Fund […]

By Ashutosh Mishra Bhubaneswar: Odisha BJP is likely to get a new president with organisational changes in the offing. While the names of some probables are already being bandied about the pertinent question to ask is what will be the challenges before then new party chief. Though the party has emerged as the main opposition […]

By Ashutosh Mishra Bhubaneswar: Not one to rest on his laurels chief minister, Naveen Patnaik has set about the task of further strengthening the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) organisation in the state. The party, of which he is the president, has decided to launch an ambitious membership drive almost doubling its strength in the state. […]

By Ashutosh Mishra Bhubaneswar: In a significant move, union agriculture minister, Narendra Singh Tomar has promised additional assistance to coconut farmers whose crop was hit by cyclone Fani. The assurance must be music to the ears of farmers in areas like Chandanpur and Sakhigopal in Puri that bore the brunt of Fani that made landfall […]

By Sandeep Sahu A fortnight after the demolition drive inside a 75-meter radius around the Lord Jagannath temple in Puri began, no one knows what the government proposes to do with the land thus cleared. Will it be a No Man’s Land with only a passage left for devotees to enter the temple? Will part […]

By Ashutosh Mishra Bhubaneswar: If newspaper reports are to be believed Odisha government had diverted more than 14,475 hectares of forest land for mining purposes in the last one decade. The mineral-rich Keonjhar and Sunergarh districts accounted for the bulk of this land. Though compensatory afforestation is taken up through Campa fund it can never […]

By Ashutosh Mishra Bhubaneswar: In its latest move to empower women state government plans to engage women from economically deficient background in services like running of Aahar kendras, managing community toilets and collecting water bills. These women will be part of the self-help groups (SHGs) formed by the state urban development agency (SUDA) under the […]

By Ashutosh Mishra Bhubaneswar: The last minute glitch in India’s moon mission broke the hearts of ISRO scientists. It was also a heart breaking moment for the rest of the country with lakhs of people glued to their TV sets to hear the news of lander Vikram’s touchdown on the surface of the moon. But as […]

By Ashutosh Mishra Bhubaneswar: Has Odisha changed for the better in the last 20 years? With chief minister, Naveen Patnaik setting a record of sorts by winning five back to back elections any discussion on the state is bound to revolve around this question. While ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) leaders can be biased about […]

By Ashutosh Mishra Bhubaneswar: Odisha has reported 70 cases of acid attack between 2011 and 2019, according to an NGO engaged in helping acid attack survivors. Both government and the civil society need to take these statistics seriously because victims invariably are women, especially young women who are left with permanent scars on their bodies […]

By Ashutosh Mishra Bhubaneswar: It is not often that one sees an IAS officer in Odisha trekking through a hilly terrain and fording a river to reach out to people living life dangerously in virtually inaccessible areas. On Sunday the sub-collector of Ganjam, Shinde Dattatraya Bhausaheb undertook such a journey to interact with the residents […]

By Ashutosh Mishra Bhubaneswar: Within a span of less than two months POCSO courts in different parts of the state have awarded death penalty to three persons in cases of rape and murder of minor girls. The punishment will hopefully serve as a deterrent and curb the worrisome trend of rise in such cases. The […]

By Ashutosh Mishra Bhubaneswar: A section of the media has reported that Keonjhar district administration has decided to use sal leaf plates and disposable paper cups in a bid to reduce the consumption of plastic. Sal leaf plates, popular known as “ khali”, have been part of socio-cultural life of Keonjhar and Mayurbhanj districts. They […]

By Ashutosh Mishra Bhubaneswar: Chief minister, Naveen Patnaik seems keen to ensure that his 5T formula of governance is followed both by civil as well as the police administration. Ahead of the launch of his government’s Mo Sarkar initiative, which is one of the steps towards making 5T effective, he has urged police officials to […]