Guest Column News Updates

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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.…

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 […]

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 […]