Guest Column News Updates

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Op-Ed: Patnaik May Have Many Advisors But He Trusts Himself Most

By Ashutosh Mishra Bhubaneswar: Eversince chief minister, Naveen Patnaik stepped into the political arena there has been speculation about the people guiding him. In the initial days bureaucrat-turned-politician, Pyari Mohan Mohapatra was believed to have been his informal advisor. Mohapatra, who had worked closely with Naveen’s father, Biju Patnaik, was known to the family and […]

Blackbuck
Op-Ed: The Challenge of Managing the Black Buck Population In Ganjam

By Ashutosh Mishra Bhubaneswar: Two black bucks (Antilope cervicapra) were recently found dead in Ganjam’s Polasara forest range. Both males their carcasses were recovered from different places in the same range. However, the carcasses did not bear any injury marks that led to speculation about consumption of pesticides being the possible cause of death. What […]

Superstitions
Op-Ed: Only Change Of Mindset Can Guarantee The End Of Superstition

By Ashutosh Mishra Bhubaneswar: The spine chilling murder in a Keonjhar village of a 60-year-old tribal woman and her relative, both suspected to be practising sorcery, serves as a cruel reminder of how superstition continues to grip the minds of people even in 21st century Odisha. While most such incidents are reported from tribal-dominated areas […]

Op-Ed: Exercising Political Patronage Is Chief Minister’s Privilege

By Ashutosh Mishra Bhubaneswar: The recent appointment of Biju Janata Dal (BJD) leaders to various boards and corporations has triggered a debate about chief minister, Naveen Patnaik using political patronage to rehabilitate leaders who were either denied party tickets in the last elections or had been working in various organisational capacities in the hope of […]

Op-Ed: Odisha Needs New Tiger Reserves But Challenges Ahead

By Ashutosh Mishra Bhubaneswar: The proposal of Odisha and Chhatisgarh to the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) to notify the Sunabeda wildlife sanctuary as a tiger reserve is a welcome move but the state government needs to move with caution in this regard after its recent experience in Satkosia which is our second tiger reserve […]

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Op-Ed: A Welcome Move

By Ashutosh Mishra Bhubaneswar: Odisha government has drawn up grand plans to turn Puri into a world-class heritage city. The government has already launched a demolition drive around the 12th century Jagannath temple, the town’s most famous landmark and the focal point of Hindu spirituality, to execute the plan which would focus as much on […]

Arun-jaitly
Op-Ed: An Irreparable Loss

By Ashutosh Mishra Bhubaneswar: Within the span of a few weeks Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) has lost two of its most articulate and efficient leaders whose appeal cut across party lines. The diminutive Sushma Swaraj, one of the most able and humane external affairs ministers of the country, was the first go. Then came the […]

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Op-Ed: Focus Back On Coastal Erosion

By Ashutosh Mishra Bhubaneswar: Odisha’s first geo-synthetic tube wall at Pentha in coastal Kendrapara, the only example of state-of-the art technology being used in the state to fight erosion, is in news again but for the wrong reasons. According to reports in a section of the local media a portion of the 600-metre structure raised […]

IPL-2021-Criticism
IPL: In The 'Heat' Of The Moment

More than two weeks into the tournament, suddenly a section has started taking offence. Media houses have decided to boycott IPL coverage citing its timing, people are calling it names.…

RAPE-VICTIM
Op-Ed: Time To Grasp The Nettle

By Ashutosh Mishra Bhubaneswar: There seems to be no end to the exploitation of minor girls studying in residential schools in the state’s tribal-dominated areas. If reports in a section of the local media are to be believed a class IX student has been found pregnant in Dasmantpur block of Koraput district after being allegedly […]

Maoist-encounter
Op-Ed: Police Must Step Up Its Drive Against Maoist Rebels

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 […]

Forest
Op-Ed: A Welcome Gift From the Centre

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 […]

BJP
Op-Ed: Challenges Before BJP In Odisha

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 […]

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Op-Ed: Naveen’s Bid To Make Governance Pro-People

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. […]

coconut
Op-Ed: A Ray of Hope for the Fani-hit Coconut Farmers

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 […]

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