Opinion News Updates

By Ashutosh Mishra Bhubaneswar: Rivers, creeks and prawn enclosures dot the rural landscape as one moves beyond Rajnagar towards Talchua in Kendrapara district. A sizeable section of the local populace consists of Bengali settlers who are expert boat makers and fishermen. Long back when they decided to make this region their home they cleared the […]

By now, everyone knows Indian politics is a cynical, no-holds-barred game where there is no place for any human emotions or sensibilities. Conspiracy, intrigue and back-stabbing are the rules of this ruthless game. But even by these accepted standards of politics, what has just happened in respect of the Patkura Assembly constituency last week certainly […]

By Ashutosh Mishra Bhubaneswar: With the final round of polling coming to an end in the state the focus would now shift to the fate of some of the key players in these elections. Speculation is already rife about what may happen to Kendrapara’s BJP candidate, Baijayant Panda who has been hogging the limelight for […]

By Ashutosh Mishra Bhubaneswar: It was like any other morning that day back in 1999. The sky was slightly overcast and a gentle breeze was blowing outside my apartment. I surveyed the sky and the surroundings with a sense of relief. The night before Met department had forecast a cyclone that was about to hit […]

By Ashutosh Mishra Bhubaneswar: Reconstruction in the wake of havoc wreaked by cyclone Fani is by far the biggest challenge chief minister, Naveen Patnaik has faced since he took up the reins of the state in 2000. The initial years of Patnaik’s first stint in power were devoted to rebuilding infrastructure damaged by the 1999 […]

By Ashutosh Mishra Bhubaneswar: The phenomenon of coastal erosion is likely to intensify in the state in the wake of cyclone Fani with sea turbulence expected to increase manifold. Higher wave energy would mean greater erosion of land mass along the coast. As it is the sea has been eating into the land in several […]

By Ashutosh Mishra Bhubaneswar: During my recent visit to Puri to report the damage caused by cyclone Fani in the temple town I found state tourism secretary in a huddle with local hoteliers and energy department officials. He was trying to sort out the problems of the hotel industry in a bid to put tourism […]

By Ashutosh Mishra Bhubaneswar: Commenting on the likely post-poll scenario, BJP leader, Pradeep Purohit made an interesting remark. “ In politics there are no permanent enemies or friends,” he said apparently referring to the possibility of BJP and Biju Janata Dal (BJD) helping each other if the situation so demands after the announcement of results […]

By Ashutosh Mishra Bhubaneswar: Making comparisons in a human tendency. People, who either witnessed or were the victims of 1999 super-cyclone, are already comparing it with Fani which wreaked havoc on the state’s coast on May 3. It is being pointed out that the scale of casualties was much bigger in 1999 with around 10,000 […]

By Ashutosh Mishra Bhubaneswar: One of the biggest casualties of cyclone Fani has been the green cover of the areas hit by it. Destruction of trees in cities like Bhubaneswar and Puri has been massive, making large areas completely bare of any kind of foliage. The capital city, one of the greenest in the country, […]

Former Chief Minister Giridhar Gamang has set the cat among pigeons by raising the question that everyone – except apologists of the Naveen Patnaik government, of course – wanted to ask but did not muster the courage to do so: Did the government, as it has claimed, really ‘evacuate’ 14 lakh people in the hours […]

By Ashutosh Mishra Bhubaneswar: As parties await May 23 with bated breath indications are that it is going to be a tight race between BJP and its rivals. The BJP may not like such a scenario to emerge but it has to prepare itself for that. Newspaper reports suggest that Congress is already reaching out […]

By Ashutosh Mishra Bhubaneswar: Cyclone Fani has laid waste huge coconut plantations in Puri district. The destruction is visible as one drives along national highway 306 from Bhubaneswar to Puri. Acres of coconut plantations have been flattened by the gale that wreaked unprecedented havoc on this land for more than three hours on May 3. […]

How seriously should we take senior BJD leader Surya Narayan Patro’s “Naveen for PM” call? Did he speak out of turn? Or did he have the sanction of the party supremo before going public with it? Having watched how things work in the ruling party since its inception, this columnist would tend to go with […]

[A disclaimer is perhaps in order at the very outset. This columnist has never taken Exit Polls or their findings seriously and has always believed in waiting for the actual results to roll out before trying to make sense of the ‘verdict’. Hence, he would hold his breath till May 23 before drawing any conclusion. […]