News from Odisha

The IPL fever is back. The mega cricket tournament Indian Premier League is all set to kick-start on Friday at the Chepauk Stadium in Chennai. The match will be played behind the closed door and as per guidelines issued.

When the paparazzi spotted Bollywood and Tollywood actress Tamannaah and asked her about Allu Arjun’s birthday, she wished the actor and sent him warm wishes. She also spoke about his upcoming movie ‘Pushpa’ and wished him all the best for his upcoming movie. She also spoke a little about her own upcoming Telugu movie ‘Fun and Frustration’ or ‘F3’ with Director Anil Ravipudi.

Hundreds of students of Utkal University launched a protest on National Highway-16 near the varsity campus in Vani Vihar Square opposing the directive to vacate hostels. The Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation has directed college authorities to ask students to vacate hostel premises in view of rising COVID19 cases.

Soon after Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik exhorted people to take a pledge to strictly wear masks for the next 14 days, the State government issued a directive ordering higher penalties for people not wearing masks.

The famous ‘Chaiti Parba’ of Goddess Maa Tarini began today (April 9) at Ghatgaon Tarini Temple in Keonjhar district with strict adherence to Covid19 protocols. In view of the current COVID19 situation, extensive arrangements have been made by the temple and the district administration.  Devotees will be allowed to have darshan of the Goddess only after rituals like Snana (bath), Majana and Sunabesha (golden attire). As per the fresh guidelines issued by the district administration for the famous festival of the Goddess, devotees will be allowed darshan from April 9 to 12 and again post April 14. The darshan timings during this period has been fixed from 7 AM to 12.30 PM and then again from 3.30 PM to 7 PM daily. All rituals will be performed at the temple with strict adherence to the Covid-19 guidelines. However, devotees will not be allowed to offer ‘Bhoga’ or offerings at the temple. In view of the huge footfall that the temple witnesses during the ‘Chaiti Parba’ and ‘Pana Sankranti’ on April 13 and 14 respectively, the district administration has banned public darshan at the temple. All the shops selling puja materials for offerings will remain closed during the ‘Chaiti Parba’. Similarly, distribution of ‘Pana’ and Prasad has been restricted this year. As per an earlier statement of the administration all rituals and special puja of the Goddess will be telecast on social media. Additionally no other cultural programme would be performed during the festival.

  Thunderstorm accompanied by lightning and hail is likely to occur in several parts of Odisha! The regional center of the India Meteorological Department (IMD) on Friday issued alert for thunderstorm and lightning (accompanied by hail) for several parts of Odisha.

In a special drive, the Special Task Force (STF) of the Odisha Police Crime Branch arrested two firearm smugglers and busted a gunrunning racket in Cuttack on Friday. Acting on a tip-off, the STF conducted a raid near Sikharghat Bridge under Niali Police limits in Cuttack district on Friday. Eight illegal firearms, including two sophisticated pistols have been seized from their possession.

Amid concerns over rising cases of Covid-19, will CBSE conduct the board exams in offline mode or switch to online mode this year? While one section of students is asking for the examinations to be conducted online, many students are requesting the government to cancel board exams or postpone it.

Corona warriors are increasingly getting infected with COVID-19.  Two doctors of the Capital Hospital in Bhubaneswar tested positive for COVID19 on Friday. The Director at Capital Hospital, Dr Laxmidhar Sahoo informed that one doctor each from Surgery and Medicine departments have tested positive for COVID-19. The two doctors will undergo RT-PCR test again for re-confirmation, he added. Dr Sahoo also said that those who came in contact with the doctors were tested and none of them have come out positive for COVID-19. Meanwhile, the Covid-19 tally in Odisha jumped to 3,46,808 on Friday with 1,282 more people testing positive for the infection. It is the highest single-day rise this year. The toll in the State rose to 1924 with the death of one patient in the last 24 hours.

The rising number of Covid-19 cases in Odisha continues to raise an alarm as the State recorded 1,374 new positive cases of novel coronavirus in the last 24 hours. What is more concerning is that the State also reported two more deaths taking the total death toll to 1,926. The new infections reported in the past 24 hours are the highest so far this year, surpassing the earlier single-day spike of 1,282 cases recorded on Friday (April 9). Out of the new cases, 812 were from quarantine while the rest 562 were local transmission cases. As per the data provided by the Information and Public Relations Department (I&PR), Sundargarh reported the maximum number of 355 cases followed by Khordha  193, Nuapada 135, Sambalpur 77, Bargarh 59, Jharsuguda 52, Cuttack 51, Rayagada 47 and Kalahandi reported 45 cases. After the addition of today’s figures, the total active cases in the state rose to 7003, while 3,39,200 patients have recovered from the disease so far, as per the latest data from the State Health and Family Welfare (H&FW) Department.

In an exclusive interview to OTV, one of the interlocutors, Padma Shri Dharampal Saini reveals inside details of hostage negotiations with the Naxals. On April 7th, the interlocutors were taken for the negotiation in a 7-hour-long journey through the jungle. They began their journey at around 5:30 PM and reached at the Maoist camp at around 12:30 AM midnight. After resting during the night, everyone assembled at around 12 PM the next day. Then the hostage jawan was produced before a Praja Court or Kangaroo Court. He was interrogated at the court where people from 20-25 villages had assembled. According to Jawan Rakeshwar Singh Manhas, he lost his consciousness while battling the Maoists during the encounter on April  3rd. When he regained his senses, he found himself in Naxal captivity. However, Rakeshwar said that he was not harassed in any manner by the Naxals.

Bollywood actress and model Gauhar Khan and her husband Zaid Darbar were recently spotted by the shutterbugs at Mumbai airport. The most special thing about this celebrity sighting was the adorable co-ordinated masks worn by the couple. Zaid wore a mask which had ‘Man’ written on it while Gauhar sported a similar mask with ‘Wife’ written on it. The couple looked chic in a matching ‘Athleisure’ outfit looking forward to jet off from the city.

At a time when most people chose to opt for comfortable ‘Athleisure’ or curate Airport looks, Bollywood actress Kangana Ranaut was spotted sporting a bright yellow saree at Mumbai Airport. The actress was spotted in the chic Indian attire as she geared up for a trip to Coimbatore. Kangana graciously posed for the cameras.

More precious treasure was recovered from Emar Mutt situated in front of the 12th-century Jagannath Temple in Puri. As many as 47 silver bricks were recovered from the mutt on Saturday, just a day after some silver and bronze items were recovered. The silver bricks were recovered from room number 4 of the mutt.

A baby elephant was rescued by the Odisha Forest Officials from an abandoned well in Bisusola village under Deuli Forest Range of Mayurbhanj district on Saturday (April 10).  The rescue operation took several hours. The Forest Officials had to work hard to rescue the calf as the well’s opening was very narrow with a width of merely 3 feet while it was around 15 feet deep.