News from Puri

ASI superintendent DB Garnaik said, “The conservation work of the Srimandir Nata Mandap has already been started. Many components of its conservation work like roof-tightening and leak plugging have been completed. The only work left is the repair of the cracked beam.”   

As per reports, the divyangs can only get up to the Singhadwara of Srimandir. But in the absence of a ramp, they cannot go inside the Temple on a wheelchair. In some rare cases, their attendants, if they have any, carry them into the Temple. But it is easier said than done given the huge rush on almost every day of the week.

The 21st edition of the five-day-long Bring Your Own Film Festival kicked off at Chakratirtha Road sea beach in Puri on Wednesday. Organised in collaboration with OTT platform Tarang Plus, the film festival is themed on Sun, Sand, and Screen.  

The American tourist named John has set up a tea stall on the sea beach to sell tea which has become quite popular among the beach-goers.

The repair work of the Nata Mandap will start on February 23 and will continue till March 19. A decision in this regard was taken at the Chhatisa Nijog meeting held on Tuesday. 

Police were investigating a bike-lifting racket. While interrogating some accused about the racket, police then only came to know about their link with the temple burglary. 

Youth activists of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) opposed MLA Samir Ranjan Dash's visit and showed him black flags in the Nimapara constituency on Saturday.

The victim alleged that Trinath called her husband from her house to the mango orchard. The accused gave her husband liquor before attacking him by tying up his hand and legs. It was around 10.30 pm in the night and when her husband screamed for help, she rushed to the spot.

A special train will soon roll between the two pilgrim cities of Puri and Ayodhya. Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Thursday informed this on the sidelines of an ROB foundation stone laying ceremony in Puri. 

The confusion over the dates of the celebration of Pana Sankranti, the Odia New Year, came to an end with the Mukti Mandap of Srimandir putting its seal on April 14. 

While the video fetched a huge number of likes and views on the youth’s social media handle, a complaint has been filed at Singhadwar Police Station in this regard.

While the identity of the accused has not been revealed by the SJTA yet, the matter came to the fore after the peon was caught stealing cash on the CCTV cameras installed inside the counting room.

Puri SP Pinak Mishra said, “We will investigate their forward and backward linkage -- who others are involved in it and from where the two were procuring the banned substance. Their distribution network is under scanner. The two will be thoroughly interrogated.”

The deliberations in the meeting centered on preparing an error-free calendar for the coming Odia year with accurate astrological calculations to determine the days and timings of the upcoming festivals and rituals. 

In the video, a police officer was purportedly seen hitting the youth, identified as Nrusingha Pradhan of Hasanpur village under Pipili block, with a baton.