Tag: Ashutosh Mishra

By Ashutosh Mishra Bhubaneswar: Bhartiya Janata Party MPs from the state have made a fervent plea for state government adopting and implementing the Centre’s Ayushman Bharat scheme. There is no denying the importance of the scheme for the people but residents of the state are being deprived of its benefits because Odisha government has pitted its […]

By Ashutosh Mishra Bhubaneswar: What is it that makes BJP stronger in western Odisha compared to the state’s coastal belt? Right from the beginning the party has been winning more seats in the western region while it has found it difficult to penetrate the coast where currently the Naveen Patnaik-led Biju Janata Dal (BJD) dominates. […]

By Ashutosh Mishra Bhubaneswar: There are fresh reports of depredation caused by elephants in different parts of the state. The pachyderms have been destroying crops and damaging houses, triggering anger among the residents of affected areas. In the past there have also been cases of jumbos killing humans and vice-versa. The truth is man-animal, especially […]

By Ashutosh Mishra Bhubaneswar: Two black bucks (Antilope cervicapra) were recently found dead in Ganjam’s Polasara forest range. Both males their carcasses were recovered from different places in the same range. However, the carcasses did not bear any injury marks that led to speculation about consumption of pesticides being the possible cause of death. What […]

By Ashutosh Mishra Bhubaneswar: The spine chilling murder in a Keonjhar village of a 60-year-old tribal woman and her relative, both suspected to be practising sorcery, serves as a cruel reminder of how superstition continues to grip the minds of people even in 21st century Odisha. While most such incidents are reported from tribal-dominated areas […]

By Ashutosh Mishra Bhubaneswar: The recent appointment of Biju Janata Dal (BJD) leaders to various boards and corporations has triggered a debate about chief minister, Naveen Patnaik using political patronage to rehabilitate leaders who were either denied party tickets in the last elections or had been working in various organisational capacities in the hope of […]

By Ashutosh Mishra Bhubaneswar: The proposal of Odisha and Chhatisgarh to the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) to notify the Sunabeda wildlife sanctuary as a tiger reserve is a welcome move but the state government needs to move with caution in this regard after its recent experience in Satkosia which is our second tiger reserve […]

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 […]

By Ashutosh Mishra Bhubaneswar: Water management is a huge challenge. It is a much bigger challenge in states like Odisha where a lot of water is wasted on a daily basis either through unplugged leakages or overflowing taps and overhead tanks, an example of our carelessness. As far as our rivers are concerned bulk of the […]

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 […]