Guest Column News Updates

By Ashutosh Mishra Bhubaneswar: Opposition parties have launched a series of protests against the spurt in crime against women. Considering the enormity of the problem the protests should be converted into and sustained as a people’s movement. The fact is that while the whole country is talking about the gang-rape of a veterinary doctor in […]

By Sandeep Sahu So, the ‘game changer’ has turned into a ‘game spoiler’! Of course, it was too good to last and had to unravel at some stage. After all, the outgo from the state exchequer on account of just the first six monthly installment of Krushak Assistance for Livelihood and Income Augmentation (KALIA) alone […]

By Ashutosh Mishra Bhubaneswar: Trouble is brewing in Malkangiri’s “swabhiman anchal”, a benighted hinterland which got its new moniker following the inauguration of Gurupriya bridge by chief minister, Naveen Patnaik last year. The bridge that linked what was once officially known as the ‘cut-off’ area comprising 151 villages with the mainland after a gap of […]

By Ashutosh Mishra Bhubaneswar: Santhali, the language spoken by India’s largest tribal community spread across Odisha, Bihar, Chhatisgarh and Jharkhand, found an articulate voice in the Rajya Sabha on Friday when Biju Janata Dal (BJD) member, Sarojini Hembram used it to make a point during the zero hour. This was the first time the language was […]

By Sandeep Sahu Such jubilation on the streets is seen only when Team India wins a major world cricket tournament like the World Cup. Sweets were exchanged, crackers burst and “Hyderabad police Zindabaad’ slogans rent the air across the country. In Hyderabad, scenes of people showering flowers on city police personnel were reminiscent of lawyers […]

By Ashutosh Mishra London: In less than a week from now the people of Britain will be exercising their franchise to decide the future of the country, a future that seems to be hanging in the balance with a fierce debate still raging over Brexit. Prime Minister, Boris Johnson himself has described the December 12 […]

By Ashutosh Mishra Bhubaneswar: The Naveen Patnaik-led Biju Janata Dal (BJD) will in all probability support NDA government’s controversial Citizenship (Amendment) Bill in Parliament. It’s refusal to do so, which seems highly improbable, has the potential to change the dynamics of its existing relationship with the Modi-led Centre. The Bill that aims to provide citizenship […]

By Sandeep Sahu There is such a deluge of ‘shocking’ news these days that we have stopped being shocked by most such news. But this one is in a category all its own. Forced by his elder sister against his will to go to school, a Class IX student in Mayurbhanj district shut himself up […]

By Sandeep Sahu Speaking at the annual day function of Prameya News 7 on Tuesday, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik said the media, whether print or electronic, should ‘always’ focus on ‘positive news’. But is it really the job of the media to spread positivity? Aren’t our governments, including Mr. Patnaik’s own, already doing a remarkable […]

By Ashutosh Mishra Bhubaneswar: There is growing speculation in the media over who will be the next president of the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) in Odisha. Names are being bandied about and their chances being discussed. The possibility of incumbent president, Basant Panda, who is now a Lok Sabha member, getting a fresh term is […]

By Sandeep Sahu Those who value secularism are aghast at the BJD’s decision to support the Citizenship Amendment Bill (CAB) in Parliament, even after its suggestion to include Sri Lanka in the list of countries from where minorities have fled into India due to religious persecution, was rejected. But frankly, this writer cannot understand why […]

By Ashutosh Mishra Bhubaneswar: The launch of Mission Suvidya by chief minister, Naveen Patnaik to ensure better amenities for students in the hostels run by the scheduled tribes and scheduled caste development department is expected to give these institutions a much-needed face-lift. The SC&ST hostels had turned into the breeding ground of scandals with several […]

By Ashutosh Mishra Bhubaneswar: Maoist rebels have warned the residents of a particular village in Malkangiri, state’s most formidable Red citadel, against using their mobile phones. Orapadar, located in the district’s Swabhiman Anchal ( earlier known as the cut-off area), is a dark hinterland with connectivity the biggest problem being faced by the people. With […]

By Sandeep Sahu “A rose”, Shakespeare had said, “by any other name would smell as sweet.” To paraphrase the bard, “A rotten egg by any other name would smell as foul.” So what exactly is expected to change after the renaming of Sachivalaya Marg as Lok Seva Marg? Will the traffic cops along the way […]

By: Ashutosh Mishra Bhubaneswar: Media has reported about the felling of around 40,000 trees in Sambalpur’s Talabira village to facilitate coal mining. The destruction of greenery followed Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC)’s Stage II clearance for diverting 1,038.187 hectares of forest land for an opencast coal mining project. Believed to be […]