Opinion News Updates

Away from the election, the rules for the common person awaiting the festivities are quite different. There have been several restrictions in Odisha ranging from the absurd to the downright bizarre.

Job and business opportunities continue to be extremely limited in Odisha. A career in UPSC civil services is held in admiration in the state. The real reason behind youths increasingly getting disinterested in IAS, IPS or IFS exams seems to be the growing inadequacy in academic field that has made it increasingly difficult for Odisha candidates to compete.

In view of the serious dimension the drug menace has assumed in Odisha, there has to be adequate strategy to control the problem. Government needs to address urgently issues like adequate staffing, training, adequate equipment and inter-agency coordination challenges.

I was in school when I used to see him chasing the cyclones, my generation was never glued to the MET department or Radio updates but we would wait to watch Arindam Bhai, Swayam Bhai and Kasturi Ma’am wearing a raincoat or holding an umbrella with a boom. An indicator of the coming disaster.

In my three and a half decades in journalism, I cannot remember one occasion when the death of a reporter of a TV channel has become the subject of wall-to-wall coverage, to the exclusion of all other news of the day, for ALL news channels for several hours together.

A ‘magnanimous’ state government has sought to silence the disquiet over the unfortunate death of Jyoti Prakash Behera, a Class X student who fell into an open drain and was swept away to death on Sunday, with a ‘generous’ ex-gratia of 4 lakh rupees. 

There are not enough teachers, medical staff and not even enough policemen. Crime against women and children are numerous and the track-record of Odisha is a matter of grave concern and shame. The Annual Establishment Review of the state government for 2019-20 revealed that about 2 lakh (1,99,957) government posts remained vacant.

Odisha plans to transform in the first phase 1,070 schools with modern facilities and Government feels that the move would lay the foundation for a progressive Odisha. Chief Minister said the decision to transform the schools will bring new opportunities for children of the state and will help them fulfil their dreams.

The irony could not have been starker. Web portals/channels in the business of dispensing news have, of late, themselves become news; and for all the wrong reasons!! In the last few months, there have been a spate of cases where self-styled ‘journalists’ owning or working for web portals/channels, making mincemeat of journalistic ethics, have indulged in activities that would put professional criminals to shame.

An administrative audit should be conducted and the outcome would indicate whether Biranchi Narayan Sahoo was the kingpin that had hijacked the SSC recruitment process with connivance of others or his activities had had no bearing on the normal functioning of the Commission and everything was hunky-dory in the Commission as claimed by the Chairman of the Commission.

For over two and half years, Municipal Bodies of Odisha are without elected representatives despite specific Constitutional mandate to hold Municipal Election before completion of the five year term of a Municipal Body.

The chronology of events since the death of Odisha ACF Soumya Ranjan on July 13 suggests that this is yet another case that is headed towards a dead end.

People of Odisha are among the unhappiest in India, and the state is home to very unhappy people in one of the unhappiest countries on earth, reveals Happiness Index Report.

The alacrity shown in making a bold announcement that Bhubaneswar city was the first in India to have 100% vaccination against Covid-19 has created a great deal of confusion.

Cycle sharing system to emerge as a means to provide first and last-mile connectivity in Bhubaneswar would depend on when the city can have safe and dedicated cycle tracks.